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Hamilton Men’s Hockey extended their win streak to nine over the weekend following two away wins at Wesleyan (5–2) and 12th ranked Trinity (2–1). These wins have allowed Hamilton to finish January undefeated (8–0).
The weekend started off with excitement as the Continentals came back from a 2–0 deficit against Wesleyan with five unanswered goals. Wesleyan gained their early lead scoring two goals 62 seconds apart midway through the first period. This was goalie Charlie Archer’s ’25 first game back after he was out for two weeks due to injury and the goals were his only mistakes of the night. Hamilton started its comeback with 1:19 left in the first period when Nick Kent’s ’27 shot was blocked alongside the follow-up attempt by Max Bulawka ’26 before Luke Tchor ’27 finally finished it off after a sloppy deflection from Wesleyan’s goalie.
The Continentals tied it with 5:50 remaining in the second period after Jackson Krock ’26 won an offensive zone faceoff. He passed it to Kent who dished it to James Philpott ’25 for the goal. Devon de Vries ’27 put Hamilton in the lead 2:12 into the third period after Liam Varmecky ’28 had his shot blocked and de Vries controlled the bouncing puck and scored. Krock made it a two-goal game at 4:51 of the third as Tchor and Kent picked up the helpers. Kent would finally get a goal of his own after his three assists to give himself a four point night on a power-play with 1:28 to go.
The Continentals swept the season series against the Wesleyan Cardinals. In the previous matchup, Hamilton recorded a 6–3 win at home on Nov. 23 and has now won five straight meetings with Wesleyan. The Continentals are 14–0 when scoring three or more goals this season. The four points by Kent is a personal season high, and he leads the team with 15 assists while Philpott scored his first goal since Dec. 1 and his third this season. The Continentals held a 34–19 shot advantage and won 36-of-58 faceoffs. Hamilton went 1-for-4 on the power play while Wesleyan was 1-for-3.
The next game was a true test for Hamilton as they matched up against a ranked opponent in Trinity. Both teams were held scoreless in the first period. Hamilton opened the scoring as Krock redirected the puck on a power play with 4:22 left in the second period. Trinity tied it up in the third on their own powerplay. De Vries got the game-winning goal with 5:11 left in the game off a one-timer thanks to a pass from Tchor off the faceoff dot. The Bantams pulled their goaltender with about 1:30 left but Archer was a brick wall and Trinity was unable to capitalize. Krock led the offense with a goal and an assist, and won 16 of 27 faceoffs. He has four multi-point games in the last five. Despite being a normally high scoring offense, Hamilton won for the first time this season scoring less than three goals in a game.
The pure domination the Continentals have had over the NESCAC at the moment can not be overstated. The team is now ranked sixth in the country, the highest the team has been ranked all season. They have an eight-point lead in the conference standings, with recently defeated Trinity being their only competition.
Archer leads goalies in the conference with a 1.24 goals against average and .945 save percentage. He is 3rd in all of Division III in goalie wins and goals against average and 4th in save percentage. Tchor leads the NESCAC with 25 points and 13 goals and is tied for 4th in assists with 12. He is 8th in Division III hockey in goals per game (.72) and is 13th in points. Kent is third in the NESCAC in assists (15).
The top four plus/minus spots in the NESCAC are all held by Hamilton skaters. In every meaningful category, a Continental is in the top five in the NESCAC. They are 1st or 2nd in every team based stat in the conference as well.
The team is the fourth best scoring defense in the country and also boasts the fourth best scoring margin thanks to their 11th best scoring offense in Division III. With six games left in the season, the team has already secured more wins than any of the past five seasons. These Continentals are good, at a level the Hill has not seen since the team’s record-breaking season in 2016–17 when they made both the NESCAC finals and the NCAA quarterfinals.
The Continentals start a homestand this weekend as they face the Bowdoin College Polar Bears (7–9–2, 5–5–2) on Friday, Feb. 7 at 7pm and the Colby Mules (10–5–3, 5–5–2) on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3pm. Both matches will be during Alumni Weekend.
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Publishing the truth, from good motives and for justifiable ends since 1847, The Spectator is Hamilton College's independent, student-run weekly newspaper.
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