Most of the starters from last season returned, giving the Panthers a solid foundation for the club, who was once against lead by its team captain.
Hurriedly, scheduled were rearranged to take advantage of the weather and Middlebury took a trip to Amherst right after the exam break.
Though the Panthers were outplayed for stretches, Conley played another strong match and turned aside several scoring opportunities.
The Lord Jeffs tallied three times in the first period and the Panthers were forced to play catchup for the rest of the match.
It wasn't until the beginning of the third that Kelley was able to get Middlebury on the scoresheet, however, a late flurry by the Cadets enabled the home team to walk away with a win.
In the single 10-minute extra period, Simmons scored from a scrimmage in front of the net and the team was able to continue their solid defensive effort until time expired.
The final two games of the year were played on back-to-back nights and the team was able to reward the devotion of the student body with a pair of wins.
In a fast match with Union, Twitchell scored twice on a pair of long shots while the winning tally was recorded by Simmons after a mad dash down the left wing boards.