Hamilton College's Sam Walther '18 made 21 saves and the Continentals shut out the Middlebury College Panthers 2-0 at Middlebury's Kenyon Arena on Friday night.

Hamilton (10-5-2, 5-3-1 NESCAC) scored both its goals on the power play in the second period. The win enabled the Continentals to pull into a tie for second place with the Panthers in the conference standings. Hamilton posted its first victory at Middlebury as the Panthers were blanked at home for the first time since Dec. 1, 2013. Middlebury (9-4-2, 5-3-1) is ranked sixth in the D3hockey.com Top 10 poll and seventh in the USCHO.com Division III Top 10 poll.

Kelli Mackey '19 led the Continentals' offense with a goal and an assist, and Katie Parkman '17 assisted on both goals. Parkman leads the team with nine helpers and 16 points. Andrea Rockey '19 notched her team-leading eighth goal. Hamilton has shut out three of its last four opponents and has allowed just seven goals in nine conference games.

Walther set a team record with her sixth shutout this season and extended her program mark for career shutouts to 14. She is tied for second in Division III with those six shutouts, ranked sixth with a .951 save percentage and 11th with a 1.14 goals against average.

After a scoreless first period, Mackey put the Continentals on the scoreboard with her third goal at 4:37 of the second. She won a face-off in the offensive zone back to Parkman, who drifted toward the middle of the ice on the blue line. Parkman sent a pass back to Mackey and she rifled a shot from the right that deflected off a defender on the far post and into the net. The goal came 30 seconds after the Panthers were whistled for having too many players on the ice.

After a Middlebury player was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking at 17:34 of the second period, Hamilton made the Panthers pay with another power-play tally, this time by Rockey with 51 seconds left. Following a face-off in the offensive end, an initial shot by Mackey from the top of the circle was padded away by Julia Neuburger (18 saves). The ensuing rebound bounced to Rockey's stick and she wristed a shot into the back of the net.

The Continentals nearly increased its lead in the third period on a shot by Caroline Knop '18 as part of a breakaway, but Neuburger came out of her crease to catch the wrister. Middlebury's best scoring chance of the period came near the midway point when Jessica Young skated in on a two-on-one, but Walther saved the high wrister with her glove. The Panthers pulled Neuburger for the final 2:15 for an extra skater, but still couldn't get a shot past Walther.

Middlebury went 0-for-2 on the power play and Hamilton improved its penalty kill percentage to 96.1 percent, which is second-best in Division III. The Continentals have allowed just two power-play goals all season and they are tied for fourth in scoring defense with 1.12 goals allowed per game.

Hamilton and the Panthers play in Middlebury, Vt., again on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m.