Courtesy Williams Sports Information

Box Score

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College (14-7-3) men's hockey team suffered its first loss in 10 games tonight , succumbing to a six-goal second period from Hamilton (11-11-3), to lose a 9-5 decision in the quarterfinals of the 2006 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

In a physical, hard-fought battle on the ice, Hamilton secured the right to move on to the quarterfinals tonight with a win on the road against second seeded Williams College. In an electric second period, Hamilton scored six unanswered goals in 17 minutes of play. Hamilton’s Gus Katsuras put on an impressive performance in this period, scoring three of his four goals within 10 minutes.

Continental’s goalie Gabe Tash was a wall between the posts, fending off 48 total shots on goal.

Hamilton Head Coach Phil Grady said, “both teams were fired up and ready to play [and] we were fortunate to have a few opportunities come our way. Williams never quit. We saw how they caught us last week late in the game.”

Just one week earlier, Hamilton and Williams had played to a 5-5 tie in Williamstown, with the Ephs rallying from a 5-2 deficit.

In the first period the Ephs looked strong, starting things off early with a goal from sophomore Brandon Jackmuff, assisted by Steve Bruch and Kevin Child. Williams would head into the second period ahead 1-0, but it would be the last time they would have the lead all game. Hamilton opened up the second period with a flurry of six unanswered goals, with the first coming only 36 seconds into the period, when Casey Deak found the back of the net off an assist from Chris Clarkson. From there, the Continental’s Katsuras put on a show, earning himself a hat trick in the process. Hamilton took advantage of its power play opportunities when Matt Shervan and Mike Hayes each scored, contributing to the six-goal run. With only five seconds left in the period, Williams showed no signs of quit when senior Devon O’Rourke scored his 11th goal of the season.

The Ephs opened up the scoring drive in the third period, when junior Matt McCarthy pulled the Ephs within three by a score of 6-3. Hamilton answered back only six minutes later with another Katsuras goal, his 18th on the season, assisted by Kyle Roulston. In a late surge with three minutes to go, Williams pulled within two goals of the Continentals, 7-5. when Brandon Jackmuff and Greg Shultz each scored only a minute apart. The Ephs fire was quickly extinguished when Hamilton’s Erik Kallio tallied back-to-back unassisted, empty-net goals with only 1:25 left in the contest.

Williams Head Coach Bill Kangas was “extremely pleased with how his team played this year. It is disappointing the way it ended, but I am so proud of the way this team turned it around from the middle of the year. The senior contribution and team effort of this group was truly remarkable. It’s hard to swallow this tough loss, but I respect and admire what each player has given to this team.”

The Ephs duo of Brad Shirley and Rick Redmond had 23 and 17 saves, respectively.

Hamilton heads on the road again to play top-ranked Middlebury, Friday night at 4:00 p.m. in the first NESCAC semifinal.