WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The upset-minded fifth-seeded Wesleyan men's hockey team travels to top-seed Williams on Saturday for a 4:00 pm NESCAC Semifinal showdown. This marks the Cardinals' fourth straight NESCAC semifinal round appearance after Wesleyan scored three unanswered goals in the third period in a 4-2 comeback win over fourth-seeded Middlebury last Saturday in the NESCAC Quarterfinal. Wesleyan heads into this showdown with an overall 13-11-1 record (8-9-1 NESCAC) while the Ephs secured the top-seed and sport a 17-7-1 (13-5 NESCAC) record.

In the regular season, these two sides split the season series with the home side earning the win on each occasion. Wesleyan claimed a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 nationally-ranked Williams at home on February 7 while the Ephs scored a 4-2 victory in Williamstown on January 10. Williams owns a commanding 46-11-7 edge in the all-time series but the Cardinals have won five of the last seven meetings, three of which came on the road. This marks just the second time the two sides have matched up against one another in the postseason, with the first and only meeting coming back in the 2011 NESCAC Semifinals (Williams won 3-2 in overtime).

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 five times, including the last four straight seasons (2016-20). Williams also hasn't won an NESCAC title but Ephs are tied with Bowdoin for the most runner-up finishes in the league tournament with four.

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 has seen him total 28 points across 25 games. Recently named 2019-20 First Team All-NESCAC, Harris' 28 points are third-best in the NESCAC while his 12 goals are tied for the third-highest and his 16 assists rank fourth. He heads into his fourth career NESCAC Semifinal appearance having just recorded his 100th career point at Trinity on Feb. 21 as he has 103 career points (49 goals, 54 assists) in 103 games played. 
• Named to the 2019-20 All-NESCAC Second Team, 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 2.18 goals-against average and .929 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 Spencer Fox (5-15-20), Tyler Levine (7-12-19), Cam Peritz (9-7-16), Tyler Wyatt (9-3-12) and Matt Zandi (2-9-11) as all five 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 22` for the season and an 8.8 per-game average.

EPHS AT A GLANCE:

• Williams earned their second NESCAC Regular Season title in program history with a 13-5 record in conference play. The Ephs previously won the regular season in the 2015-16 season wherein Williams finished the season with a program record 19 wins and 14-2-2 mark in the NESCAC.
• Head Coach Bill Kangas is in his 29^th season at the helm for the Ephs and recorded his 400^th career victory earlier this season with a 5-1 win against Bowdoin on Nov. 16. The all-time winningest coach in Williams' program history sports an all-time record of 415-271-66 (.596).
• Williams is one of the deepest teams in the NESCAC as the Ephs sport 11 players with double-digit point totals, second only to Trinity who has 12 players with 10+ points this season. Defenseman Jack McCool is the team's leading scorer as he has 21 points (two goals, 19 assists. Williams is the only team in the NESCAC with a defender as the team-leader in points.
• Cosimo Lazzarino and Evan Ruschil have split time all season between the pipes. Lazzarino started in the Ephs' quarterfinal win over Connecticut College, making 34 saves and allowing two goals in the victory. For the season, Lazzarino is 7-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .934 save percentage in 11 games (663:26 minutes). Ruschil put up a 10-4 record with a 2.07 GAA and .937 save percentage in 14 games (841:14 minutes).

<< CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL >>

Quarterfinals – Saturday, February 29

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

Semifinals – Saturday, March 2 at Williams

No. 3 Hamilton vs. No. 2 Trinity – 1:00 PM
No. 5 Wesleyan at No. 1 Williams – 4:00 PM (or 60 minutes following conclusion of first semifinal game)

Championship – Sunday, March 3 at Williams

Semifinals winners – TBD