Manchester, N.H. (January 25) -- The men's hockey team dropped a 2-1 final to seventh-ranked Middlebury Friday night at Sullivan Arena. The loss drops the Hawks to 5-6-3 overall, 3-6-3 ECAC East/NESCAC, while the win improves the Panthers to 12-2-1, 8-1-1 in league play.

The Panthers lit up the scoreboard first, as Tom Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) scored on the power play, assisted by Mack Cummins (SW Ranches, Fla.), at the 13:11 mark in the first period. The Panthers held a commanding 13-4 lead in shots on goal, but Jason Zuck (Clifton, N.J.) came through with a handful of big saves in the first to keep the Hawks in the game, down just 1-0 after the first frame.

The Panthers scored again at the 12:01 mark in the second giving them a 2-0 lead, with Jed McDonald (Hingham, Mass.) firing a wrist-shot from the top of the right face-off circle, getting past Zuck's right pad, assisted by Charlie Townsend (Pennington, N.J.) and Trevor Dodds (Hanover, N.H.). The Hawks responded when Matt Grazioso (Quincy, Mass.) picked up a loose rebound and scored at the 13:43 mark, assisted by Coleman Noonan (Norfolk, Mass.) and Ryan Butler (Arlington, Mass.), cutting the lead down to 2-1. Zuck made a spectacular save with just under a minute to play, stacking the pads for the save, keeping the Hawks within one heading into the second intermission.

With no scoring in the third period, the Hawks pulled Zuck with 1:12 left to play in the game. After a Brian Hartigan (Saugus, Mass.) slapshot from the point, Grazioso collected the rebound and had an empty net, but the shot never reached the net with the crowd in front of the net. The Hawks never got another chance, and Middlebury collected the 2-1 victory.

The Hawks return to the ice tomorrow, hosting Williams at 3 p.m. at Sullivan Arena.