MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Hamilton College's Grisha Gotovets '25 scored with 53 seconds left in the third period and the Continentals forced a 2-2 NESCAC tie with the Middlebury College Panthers at Middlebury's Chip Kenyon '85 Arena on Friday evening. 
 
How It Happened

• The Continentals traded goaltender Jack Grant '24 for an extra skater with 1:09 left. Hamilton called a timeout nine seconds later and registered a quick shot. Fred Allaire '23 won the faceoff to James Philpott '25 in the slot and Philpott chucked the puck off the back boards to Ben Zimmerman '26. Zimmerman sent a backhand pass to Gotovets whose initial shot was stopped, but he shoved the rebound past Jake Horoho. 
• Hamilton's Max Wutzke '24 had a scoring chance late in overtime as the teams skated 3-on-3, but his shot was stopped by Horoho.  
• The Panthers' Andrew Malatesta opened the scoring 4:50 into the first period on a rebound goal. EMack Bentley fired the initial shot that was stopped by Grant, but Malatesta claimed the puck right outside the crease and tipped it in. 
• Hamilton's Cameron Miranda '26 evened the score at 4:05 in the second period. Cade Groton '23 won the faceoff in the Continentals' defensive zone and Zimmerman pushed the puck through the neutral zone before he knocked it off a defender's skate. Miranda followed up with a wrist shot at the top of the faceoff circle that flew right by Horoho. 
• Middlebury went back in front with 5:00 remaining in the third period. The Panthers took control of the puck in Hamilton's defensive zone and skated up ice. Matt Myers sent a pass to Bentley and he sent the puck over to John Burdett who slung a shot from the slot. 
• The Panthers took three shots in the extra period while Hamilton had one. 
• Hamilton held a 34-19 shot advantage. 

Notes

• Hamilton moved to 12-9-2 overall and 10-5-2 in the conference. 
• The Continentals are in fourth place in the NESCAC standings with one game left in the regular season. The top four teams host a NESCAC championship quarterfinal on Saturday, Feb. 25.
• Middlebury moved to a 5-17-1 overall and 4-12-1 in the NESCAC. 
• Miranda tallied his first collegiate goal. 
• Gotovets netted his third goal of the season and the 10th of his career. 
• Zimmerman leads the Continentals with 16 assists and is first on the team with 22 points. 
• Philpott collected his 11th assist of the season.
• Allaire won 20 of 27 faceoffs and the Continentals won 39 of 64 draws. 
• Groton won 9 of 14 faceoffs. 
• Grant turned away 17 shots for the Continentals.
• Horoho recorded 16 of his 32 saves in the third period. 
• The Continentals were 0-for-4 on the power play while the Panthers were 0-for-2. 

Next Game

• Hamilton will travel to Williamstown, Mass., for the regular season finale at Williams College (7-14-2, 5-10-2 NESCAC) on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.