Men’s Hockey Sweeps the NESCAC Opening Weekend

Mateo Vazquez ’21

Sports Editor

This past weekend the Trinity College men’s hockey team started the season off on a strong note against fellow NESCACS Connecticut College and Tufts University. For their first game of the season Friday proved to be very successful as they sealed the game off with a 3-1 win.

The team started the game very strong and continued to keep the energy alive throughout the game, never ceading the lead. In the start of the first period alone the Bantams proved that they were out for a win. Within the first six minutes of play senior Nick Fiorentino railed a shot into the back of the net. However, Connecticut College did not let the goal go unanswered. Their defense immediately responded back with a strong push from the back and moved the puck through the Bantam’s mid-field. After some confusion in which the Bantam’s defense got split, Connecticut College was able to sneak a pass through which resulted in a slap shot out of nowhere. This resulted in a tie game which lasted till the end of the first period. While the first period ended in a tie, the Bantams made a valiant effort from the start of the second period to ensure that a loss would not be the case. They took the opportunity on a power play in the second period to up the score and held onto the lead which would ultimately seal the game.

Throughout the rest of the game, Connecticut College could not stick with the Bantams as they were constantly under pressure from the Bantam’s strong offense. It became quite clear that the Bantams were going to win the game. In reflection, this was a great start to the season and a great way to demonstrate ability and depth that the team is able to achieve.

The Bantams also continued this effort into Saturday as they faced off against Tufts who they faced last year on the way to NESCAC championships. Once again, the Bantams came out to the game with the intention to sweep the weekend. By the start of the first period, both teams were still feeling out the territory and trying to find loopholes in the defense. Then 12 minutes into the first period the Bantams broke through and scored a goal, in a manner very similar to the Connecticut College game.

They carried this lead for the rest of the first period. Then, in the second period, the game really started to pick up speed as the Bantams completed shot after shot on the race toward victory. The Bantams gave the Jumbos an absolute beating, and it became quite clear that the Jumbos had little hope in making a return in the game.

The team ended the game with a win of 4-1 and swept the weekend. This is an amazing start to the season, and we are looking forward to what the team will be bringing to the table as the rest of the season continues. We wish them the best of luck as they are on the road against Amherst and Hamilton this upcoming weekend for more NESCAC qualifying games.