BOX SCORE
BRUNSWICK, Maine - Middlebury defeated Bowdoin in the final men's
ice hockey contest at Dayton Arena on Friday, 5-2. The Panthers
improve to 9-2-1 as Bowdoin drops their fourth-straight contest and
dips to 6-5-1.
The Polar Bears close Dayton Arena with an all-time record of 358
wins, 140 losses and 23 ties dating back to 1956.
Middlebury controlled the early play and got on the board
first, as Michael Kretschmer rifled a shot from the point that was
redirected in front of the cage by Ian Drummond to give the
visitors a 1-0 lead just 4:59 into the contest. Richard Nerland
swept aside the other 11 chances he faced in the opening stanza,
however, as Middlebury carried their one-goal advantage into the
second frame.
A powerplay chance resulted in the Panthers doubling their lead
early in the second period. Charlie Strauss finished off a series
of nice passes to give Middlebury a 2-0 advantage just 36 
seconds into the frame. The Panthers continued their offensive
pressure and finished off an odd-man rush when Strauss banged home
a rebound at 4:01.
Bowdoin's first powerplay of the game resulted in their
first score, as Mike Corbelle deposited a rebound off a shot by
Graham Sisson at 11:52 to close the gap to 3-1 after forty minutes.
The Polar Bears continued to chip away at the Middlebury lead after
controlling the first ten minutes of the third stanza. Mike
Corbelle cut loose into a slapshot from the blue line that was
deflected in front by Sisson and past Middlebury's John Yanchek to
make it 3-2 with 9:38 remaining.
Bowdoin continued to press, but a dump-in by Middlebury
led to a bouncing puck which came to the stick of John Sullivan,
who deposited it top-shelf to give the Panthers a 4-2 lead with
under three minutes to play. The Panthers iced the game just
moments later, as an odd-man rush saw Ken Suchoski feed Mason
Graddock to make it 5-2 with 2:15 left.
Yanchek stopped 26 shots for Middlebury. Nerland finished
with 31 saves for Bowdoin. Dayton Arena opened on December 1, 1956
with a 9-0 loss to Middlebury College.
An on-ice presentation prior to Friday's contest featured
several Bowdoin hockey alumni from the 1950's and 60's, who were
among the first to play in Dayton Arena. The group included Fred
Thorne, Art Perry, Ted Sanquist, Bob Spencer, David Ham, Ted
Parsons, Tim Whiting and Ron Famiglietti.
Photo courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images
Photography. Photos from the final men's hockey game at Dayton
Arena are available at his website.
