Courtesy Middlebury Athletic Communications

Box Score

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury scored five goals in a 9:24 span on its way to the team’s fourth NESCAC Championship in the five years of the tournament. The Panthers will make their 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament when the pairings are announced late Sunday night. Trinity will hope for an at-large bid.

The teams felt each other out in the early goings, with Levi Doria of Middlebury having the best chance to score at 9:45, but he missed the open net with Douglas Kiselius trying to get back into position. John Dawson had a similar chance at the 12:00 mark, but his shot missed high. The Bantams earned their first shot of the game at 14:41 of the first period as Ryan Stevens was stopped by Marc Scheuer as he was breaking in all alone.

Trinity scored the game’s first goal at 4:47 of the second period. Simon Dionne circled the net and faked a wrap-around before finding Ryan Stevens in the slot for the one-timer.

Middlebury answered on the power play just 3:06 later as Mike Velez ripped a shot from the left point before Brian Phinney scored on a backhander from the high slot. On the ensuing face-off, Shady Young came out of the pack with the puck and beat Kiselius with a low shot to the right side. Kevin Cooper made it a 3-1 game at 11:35 as he beat Kiselius through the five-hole on a breakaway for the shorthanded goal. Middlebury scored another special teams goal at 16:39 as John Dawson’s snap shot from down low deflected into the net of Colin Wilson-Murphy’s skate. The Panthers kept coming as Dawson scored another power play goal just 34 seconds later, after a rebound and a scramble in the slot area.

Stevens scored his second of the game at 12:35 of the third period as he tipped in a shot from Brendan Timmins. Foote added the Panther’s fourth power play goal of the game at 15:19 to make it a 6-2 final.

Scheuer made 18 saves in goal for Middlebury, while Kiselius made 26 stops for Trinity.

2004 NESCAC MEN'S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 28 at higher seeds
at No. 1 Middlebury 7, No. 8 Tufts 1
at No. 2 Trinity 3, No. 7 Amherst 0
No. 6 Hamilton 4, at No. 3 Bowdoin 0
at No. 4 Colby 3, No. 5 Williams 1

Semifinals - Saturday, March 6 at Middlebury
at No. 1 Middlebury 3, No. 6 Hamilton 1
No. 2 Trinity 4, vs. No. 4 Colby 2

Championship - Sunday, March 7 at Middlebury
at No. 1 Middlebury 6, No. 2 Trinity 2