The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Molly Warren

The campus may have largely shut down for the month of January. Most of us may have been a bit too lazy, slacked off a little, and possibly drunken ourselves into a stupor. But there is at least one group at the school who kept working hard and stayed focused during JanPlan. That would be the Colby men's ice hockey team, whose early season success turned into more victories as the season winds to a close. Since the start of the new year, the team has gone 7-4, with wins against Curry College, Saint Anselm College, Middlebury College, Connecticut College, Tufts University, Salem State and Amherst College, and losses to New England College, Williams College, the University of Southern Maine and Hamilton College. "I think currently our league is such a competitive league that our ability to keep ourselves in the hunt for a top playoff spot (we are the fourth seed and would have home ice right now) sets us up as one of the top teams in the NESCAC. We have played well," Head Coach Jim Tortorella said.

Among the highlights of the past month was the Colby versus Middlebury game, played at Colby on Jan. 12. Colby trailed 3-1 with 8:40 left in the third period, when forward Patrick Rutherford '07 scored to make it 3-2. Then, with 3:38 left in the game, forward Josh Reber '08 scored to tie the game. Four minutes into the overtime period, team Captain Greg Osborne '07 scored the game winning goal, handing a loss to the team that had been ranked number one nationally in the preseason Division III hockey poll. Credit must be given to the whole team, which, especially during the third period, shut down the relentless Middlebury attack, and to goalie Ben Grandjean '07, who two minutes into the third period transformed from a human being into an impenetrable brick wall, blocking 15 shots in the third period and eight more in overtime. He blocked 45 out of 48 shots total in the game. Individual highlights of the month included Osborne winning New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the week honors for the week ending Jan. 8, tallying six goals, including a hat trick, and three assists.

The team right now has numerous players near the top of the NESCAC statistics leaderboard. Osborne is the top goal scorer in the league, with 17 goals, averaging almost a goal per game. Tied for second in goals scored is T.J. Kelley '08. Colby has five of the top ten point scorers in the league. Osborne is second, with 30. Arthur Fritch '08 is fourth with 26, the most in the league for a defenseman. Reber is tied for fifth with 25. Kelley is tied for seventh with 24. Joe Rothwell '08 is tenth with 23. Grandjean is third in goalie save percentage, coming in at .911. The team as a whole is the highest scoring team in the league. "Everyone has contributed and played well. I can't pick an MVP, we are a team, we do not have an MVP," Tortorella said.

The team has four games left before the playoffs start, including league games against Wesleyan University on Feb. 9 and Trinity on Feb. 10, at home in the Alfond rink. Wesleyan is currently in first place in the league. As the team pushes towards a first-round playoff home game, head down to the rink and support Mule hockey.

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