MIDDLEBURY, Vt. –The fifth-seeded Wesleyan men's hockey team travels to four-seed Middlebury on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. NESCAC Quarterfinal showdown. The Cardinals head into their fourth straight NESCAC Tournament appearance finishing the regular season with a 12-11-1 record and 8-9-1 NESCAC mark. The Panthers finished 10-11-3 overall and 8-7-3 in conference play. 

Saturday's postseason matchup is a rematch of last year's NESCAC Quarterfinal as then-second seed Wesleyan dispatched of the seventh-seeded Panthers, 4-1, at home on February 23, 2019. Wesleyan had previously gone 0-2 in NESCAC Tournament games played against Middlebury prior to the 2018-19 season. 

This run of four straight postseason tournament appearances ties the program record as Wesleyan previously advanced to four straight NESCAC Tournaments between 2010-14. The Cardinals are in pursuit of its first-ever championship title game appearance as Wesleyan has advanced to the semifinal round four times, including the last three straight seasons (2016-19). Middlebury has won eight NESCAC titles, the most of any school in the conference, but the Panthers haven't won a playoff game since 2016.

CARDINALS AT A GLANCE: 

• Head coach Chris Potter's group continues to pile up the wins as the Cardinals now have double-digit regular season win totals in four straight seasons and eight of the past 10 seasons overall. In the 10 years prior to this current 10-year run, Wesleyan had just one double-digit win season (11 in 2006-07).
• A Third Team All-American last season, Walker Harris followed up an incredible 2018-19 campaign with a standout senior season that saw him total 27 points across 24 games. Harris' 27 points are third-best in the NESCAC while his 12 goals are tied for third-highest and his 15 assists are tied for fourth. He heads into his fourth career NESCAC Tournament appearance having just recorded his 100th career point at Trinity last Friday as he has 102 career points (49 goals, 53 assists) in 102 games played. 
• Tim Sestak has started all but one game this season in-between the pipes for the Cardinals and he's put together another tremendous campaign with a 2.19 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Sestak was stellar in the 2019 NESCAC Tournament, eclipsing a tournament record with 65 saves in the Cardinals' 1-0 semifinal loss to Amherst.
• Depth comes in the form of Tyler Levine (7-12-19), Spencer Fox (5-13-18), Cam Peritz (8-7-15) and Tyler Wyatt (9-3-12) as all four sport double-digit point totals in 2019-20.
• For the season, Wesleyan has committed the fewest penalty minutes at 188 including just 7.8 per game. The next-closest team in the NESCAC is Hamilton at 213 for the season and an 8.9 per-game average.

PANTHERS AT A GLANCE:

• The Panthers head into the postseason on a run as Middlebury defeated both Amherst and Hamilton at home last weekend to vault into the NESCAC Tournament as the four-seed, earning a Quarterfinal game on home ice.
• Brian Ketchabaw has been one of the best goalies in the NESCAC this season, ranking third in the league in both GAA (1.75) and save percentage (.935). Ketchabaw is coming off a 29-save shutout victory over Hamilton in the Panthers' regular season finale that helped Middlebury earn home ice in the Quarterfinal round.
• Owen Powers is the team-leader in scoring, finishing with 22 points in 23 games played to rank fifth in the NESCAC in points while Emack Bentley (6-11-17), Mitchell Allen (8-6-14) and Brendan Dawson (3-11-14) all contribute to a very deep Middlebury lineup. 

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Quarterfinals – Saturday, February 29 at Higher Seeds

No. 7 Amherst at No. 2 Trinity – 1:00 PM
No. 8 Conn. College at No. 1 Williams – 3:00 PM
No. 6 Bowdoin at No. 3 Hamilton – 4:00 PM
No. 5 Wesleyan at No. 4 Middlebury – 4:00 PM

Semifinals – Friday or Saturday, March 1-2 at Highest Remaining Seed

Lowest Remaining Seed vs. Highest Remaining Seed – TBD
Remaining Quarterfinal winners – TBD

Championship – Saturday or Sunday, March 2-3 at Semifinal Host

Semifinals winners – TBD