CLINTON, N.Y. – Hamilton College's Jack Grant '24 made a season-high 41 saves, including 17 in the third period, and the Continentals edged the SUNY Geneseo Knights 4-3 in non-conference action inside Hamilton's Russell Sage Rink on Saturday, Jan. 20.
 

Season Update

• The Continentals (11-4-1 overall), who are receiving votes in the USCHO.com Division III Top 15 poll, are unbeaten in their last three games.
• Nationally ranked No. 2 Geneseo (15-3-0) had won its previous eight games before the Knights were taken down by Hamilton.

 

How It Happened

• The late stages of the third period were a tension-filled experience for fans of the Continentals. It started with a Hamilton penalty for cross-checking with 3:32 left and continued as Geneseo pulled its goaltender for a sixth skater for most of the last three minutes following a Knights timeout with 2:56 remaining.
• Geneseo took 11 shots in those last three minutes – four of which were blocked by Continental defenders, and the remaining seven were turned away by Grant. Hamilton called its timeout with 39.4 seconds to go as the Continentals prepared to hunker down for the last onslaught from the Knights.
• Geneseo was inches away from getting the game-tying goal as Grant stopped a shot from close range but the puck trickled through and stopped on the goal line where it sat for a couple seconds before a Hamilton defender nudged it off the line. The officials eventually stopped play with 26 seconds left when the puck became buried under a mass of bodies in the crease.
• Grant made a nice blocker save on a high wrist shot from above the left faceoff circle with 20.7 seconds remaining, and was forced to make two more stops with under 10 seconds to go before the puck was swept away to the left corner and up along the left-side boards where the Continentals contained it until time ran out.
• The game got off to a wild start with five goals and seven penalties in the first period. The night didn't begin well for Hamilton as Tyson Gilmour scored for the Knights just 26 seconds after the opening faceoff.
• The Continentals evened the score with a power-play goal at 9:39 as the teams skated 4-on-3. James Philpott '25 passed to Luke Tchor '27 and Philpott got it right back for a one-timer from the dot in the right faceoff circle.
• Gilmour put Geneseo back in front with 6:40 left but Justin Biraben '27 tied the score again 39 seconds later. Biraben won a faceoff in the attacking zone and Max Bulawka '26 took a shot from the slot that pinballed around the crease. A couple players took a whack at it before Biraben finally knocked it into the back of the net.
• Hamilton took a 3-2 lead on a play that was started on a kick save by Grant. William Neault '25 fired the loose puck off the left-side boards and it caromed into the neutral zone where Alex Danis '26 collected it near center ice. Danis skated in one-on-one with the goaltender, moved the puck from his forehand to his backhand and scored with 4:38 remaining.
• Luke Panchisin drew the Knights even 61 seconds into the second period with a power-play goal.
• Defenseman Max Wutzke '24, who hadn't scored since the first game of the season, put the Continentals in front for good 9:35 into the second. Biraben played the puck around the end boards to Devon de Vries '27, who passed it up along the left-side boards to Wutzke. Wutzke's wrist shot from just above the left faceoff circle deflected off a defender in the low slot and past the goaltender.

 

Notes

• Grant recorded his second game with 40-plus saves.
• Wutzke's goal was the fifth of his Hamilton career and his first game-winner.
• Biraben, who had a goal and an assist, registered his third multi-point game this season.
• The two-assist game for de Vries is his third this season.
• Philpott – a defenseman -- notched his third goal of 2023-24.
• Danis has four goals in the last two nights after his first hat trick on Friday, Jan. 19 at Amherst.
• Neault has a point in three of the last four games.
• Grisha Gotovets '25 has six points during a current four-game point streak.
• Bulawka is tied for second in the NESCAC with 10 assists and 17 points.
• Tchor leads the conference with 11 helpers and 22 points.
• The Continentals won 60 percent of the faceoffs and were led by Jackson Krock '26 (20 of 32), Bulawka (12 of 18) and Ben Zimmerman '26 (8 of 12).
• Adam Harris made 37 saves including 16 in the first period for Geneseo.
• Peter Morgan had an assist on all three goals for the Knights.
• Both teams were 1-for-4 on the power play.

 

Next Game

Hamilton hosts Trinity College (12-3-1, 8-1-1) for a NESCAC contest on Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.