The Wesleyan men's hockey team was just as familiar with Middlebury's dominance in Div. III as anyone.
When the two teams faced off in last season's NESCAC quarterfinal, the Panthers overwhelmed the Cardinals 7-0 en route to Middlebury's sixth conference title in seven years, and its third-straight national championship.
Heading into this year, not many would have bet against the Panthers finishing at the top of Div. III hockey. United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) ranked Middlebury No. 1 in its preseason poll and predicted the team would repeat as NESCAC champions. The Cardinals, meanwhile, were projected to finish fifth in the conference.
But a look at the NESCAC standings suggests that this season's outcomes have defied all expectations. For the first time in program history, Wesleyan, with a league mark of 9-3-3, is in sole possession of first place in the NESCAC and has the opportunity to clinch a top-four finish with a win tonight at Colby.
An important key to the Cardinals' success this season has been their ability to maintain one of the conference's most impenetrable defenses. Since the 2003-04 season, the year in which Chris Potter took over as coach, the Cardinals have ranked no lower than fifth in the conference in goals allowed. This year has been no different, as Wesleyan has yielded just 47 goals thus far, good for second in the NESCAC.
"We are probably the most defensive-minded team in the NESCAC, using a wings-deep, four-defensemen system, so we have never placed emphasis on our offense," senior co-captain Will Bennett said. "Strong defense keeps us in every game."
The emergence of sophomore Mike Palladino - the team's backup at the start of the season - as the NESCAC's best goaltender, has aided the defensive effort. On the year, he has posted an astounding 1.82 goals allowed average, a .929 save percentage, and a .767 winning percentage, putting him atop all three categories in the conference.
"Last year, I wasn't very consistent with my play and at times wasn't able to maintain the proper focus during games that is needed to be successful," Palladino said.
"Now I follow a good pregame routine and have recognized the importance of maintaining focus, which has definitely contributed to better consistency in my personal play. My coaches have also helped me work on improving a lot of individual skills of my game that needed to be fine-tuned in order for me to become a better overall goaltender."
Wesleyan can also attribute its success to its marked improvement on the offensive end. Having lit the lamp 64 times this season, the Cardinals have already improved on their NESCAC-worst mark of 55 goals from last season. The squad has also been markedly more efficient with the man-advantage, scoring on 20.3 percent of its power plays, up 7.5 percent from the 2005-06 campaign.
"Our team offense has improved this year dramatically," Bennett said. "I would attribute this improvement to the addition of a great freshman class and specifically [freshman forward] Dave Layne. He is a goal scorer and has really helped our power play. It has been fun playing with him this year."
With 24 points on the season, Layne, who spent the last few seasons in the Eastern Junior League, is running away with the NESCAC freshmen scoring title. He leads the Cardinals with 12 goals, nine of which have come on the power play.
Layne knew he could contribute an offensive threat to a team with a strong defensive tradition.
"I felt that it was a great fit for me because I knew I would have an opportunity to be another piece of the puzzle and to bring something to the team that maybe was lacking in previous years," Layne said. "It was a huge opportunity."
Bennett has also been a major offensive factor in this year's squad. Second to Layne with 10 goals, Bennett has tallied a NESCAC-best 32 points. Despite playing in just 84 career games, he is just four points shy of the century mark for his career.
"I don't really think about [getting my 100th point]," Bennett said. "I'd much prefer a championship banner in our rink or a home playoff game. Those would be Wesleyan hockey firsts."
Indeed for a program that has never won a game in the NESCAC Tournament, the team's accomplishments this year have been the most rewarding.
"The older guys, in particular the seniors, are very proud of the team's success this season," senior co-captain Ryan Hendrickson said. "When we first came to Wesleyan, our program was generally considered the laughingstock of the NESCAC. It is really great to look back and see how the program has grown in just a few years."
Still, the Cardinals have been slow to gain their critics' respect, failing to earn its first appearance in the USCHO poll until Feb. 5, more than two weeks after tying Middlebury and breaking a 30-game losing streak to the Panthers.
"The naysayers just add fuel to the fire for us, and everyday, practice or game, we say to ourselves, 'This is our time and no one else's," Layne said.
But if Wesleyan truly wants to let the NESCAC and the rest of Div. III hockey know it has arrived, it will have to be patient.
"We have really tried to focus on playing one game at a time this season and accomplishing one goal at a time," Hendrickson said. "Since we believe there is no limit to our success this season, it is difficult to say what will make this a successful season. I know I'd love to end my hockey career hoisting [the national championship] trophy in Superior, Wisconsin."
