Just wanted to send out a quick update about the Hamilton game the other day, sorry for this being a little late and I apologize in advance for the brevity of my email, lot's going on right now!  First off, playing a home game during spring break at home, mid-week, is a recipe for a flat performance.  We were lucky to have a few parents in the stands and a couple of recruits but the game day atmosphere was hardly any different from a typical practice in the stadium.  Fortunately it sounds like Hamilton's break has changed for the foreseeable future and we're hoping to move the game to a neutral site next year somewhere in the mid-Atlantic area.

 

We had a great day facing off, winning 10 of 13 on the day as Brian Foster continues to heat up as we get into the season.  Brian has always done a nice job on the initial move and is now starting to win the ball to himself a bit instead of relying completely on our wing play.

 

We also had another good performance from our defensive unit and from Nate in the goal.  Zach Driscoll is having an All American type year at close defense and is starting to wreak havoc on opposing offenses by pressing out and taking his attackman out of the game.

 

The other story of the game was our inability to finish the ball on offense.  We outshot Hamilton 52-26 by my count and I'm probably only taking telling guys we can get a better one on a few occasions.  We can certainly continue to improve the kind of looks we're getting but bottom line is we need to finish.  Credit the Hamilton goalie for being big, being in good position and for making the stops he should make but our guys need to place the ball better than they are right now.

 

It has been nice to come out on the winning end of a few one goal games after our stretch of close losses a year ago but it's also been a good wake-up call for our guys to get back to work this week.  We had a great practice yesterday as we start to prepare for the Polar Bears and hope to do the same this afternoon.  Bowdoin will bring their usual stable of 6-1/6-2, 200 pound middies to town tomorrow and judging from their performance against Springfield the other day, are going to bring some confidence with them as well.  Middlebury vs. Bowdoin tomorrow at 1pm; should be a great game.  Wish us luck!