With Roy Clogston departing from his post after one season, the college turned to assistant football coach, Richard Phelan, to take over the ice hockey program.
Phelan had some good fortune in his first season as the weather was cold enough for the home rink to form in December, allowing the team to get some practice time in before the first game.
After returning from the holiday break, Middlebury had three games in quick succession, however, two were scrapped due to a lack of ice.
Foote and Nelson were unable to hold back the Ephs' attack and four goals got past Webster to conclusively hand the game to the purple squad.
[3] After the second loss, Middlebury headed west and was forced to cancel a match with Union, again due to problems with ice.
In the middle of a winter storm, Nelson, Melbye and Makela each scored twice to blow the Catamounts off of the ice and claim the program's fourth consecutive state championship.