12/9/05 - Middlebury wrapped up its first semester with a 3-3 tie against Plattsburgh in front of 2,055 fans in the Kenyon Arena. The top-ranked Panthers end the semester with a 6-0-1 mark, while Plattsburgh hosts Williams on Saturday.
A slow-paced first period picked up in the final five minute as Middlebury found the back of the net for a power play goal at the 17:18 mark. Tom Maldonado fed the puck up to Evgeny Saidachev who broke toward the goal. Saidachev’s shot was saved by Craig Neilson before Jamie McKenna snapped the rebound home for the 1-0 lead.
Plattsburgh tied the game 3:05 into the second period. Kevin Galan and Bryan North worked a nice give-and-go transition play, with Galan snapping a shot past Doug Raeder.
The Panthers regained the lead at 8:20 as Mickey Gilchrist slid a pass to Robert MacIntyre on the right side, as MacIntyre beat Neilson.
Just 1:41 later, the lead increased to 3-1 as Kyle Koziara’s shot from the right corner deflected into the goal off a Plattsburgh defender.
The Cardinals made it a one-goal game with 5:06 left in the period as Ben Kemp slid a pass ahead to Ryan Busy, who snapped a shot into the top corner of the net for a power play goal.
Plattsburgh came our charging in the third period, out shooting Middlebury 13-9 in the stanza. The Cardinals earned the equalizer with just 1:13 remaining with their netminder pulled. Derek Whithead won a face-off back to Mike Thomson, who snapped a wrist shot to the top right corner of the net from the top of the left face-off circle. The game remained scoreless through regulation, and a five-minute overtime, leaving the contest in a 3-3 tie.
Raeder ended the night with 25 saves, as did his counterpart Neilson.
Date: December 9, 2005 - 7:00 p.m
Venue: Kenyon Arena - Site: Middlebury, Vt.
TEAM 1 2 3 OT F
Plattsburgh (6-4-1) 0 2 1 0 3
Middlebury (6-0-1) 1 2 0 0 3
SCORING
M-1st (17:18) – PP: Jamie McKenna (Evgeny Saidachev, Tom Maldonado)
P-2nd (3:05) – Kevin Galan (Bryan North)
M-2nd (8:20) – Robert MacIntyre (Mickey Gilchrist, Brett Shirreffs)
M-2nd (10:01) – Kyle Koziara
P-2nd (14:54) – PP: Ryan Busby (Ben Kemp, North)
P-3rd (18:47) – 6on5: Mike Thomson (Derek Whitehead)
GOALTENDING (saves)
Doug Raeder-M (65 min., 25 saves, 3 GA)
Craig Neilson-P (64:43 min., 25 saves, 3 GA)