BRUNSWICK, Maine – Kyle Shearer-Hardy scored a pair of goals to lead the Bowdoin men's ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over Colby on Friday night at Sidney J. Watson Arena. The Polar Bears, ranked fifth in the latest Division III poll, improve to 5-1-0 (4-1-0 NESCAC) while the Mules fall to 2-4-1 (1-3-1 NESCAC). The victory is the 100th for Bowdoin against their arch-rivals and the Polar Bears lead the all-time series 100-86-8.

Playing before a sellout crowd at Watson Arena, Bowdoin's first goal came off the work of Jordan Lalor, who separated a Colby defender from the puck on the left wing. Brendan Reich collected the loose puck and fed Kyle Shearer-Hardy above the circle. Hardy deposited a slapshot top-shelf glove-side to give the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead just 2:20 into the contest. Later in the period, Shearer-Hardy struck again on the power play, taking a feed at the blue line and rifling a slapshot over Cody McKinney's stick-side shoulder for a two-goal lead at 9:25.

Colby cut the lead in half shorthanded late in the second frame, taking advantage of the Polar Bears pushing up ice on the power play. A shot from Will Hartigan sailed wide of the net, but bounced off the boards to the waiting stick of Mike Doherty. Doherty snapped a wrister over the shoulder of Steve Messina to make it 2-1 at 13:49.

Less than one minute into the third period, Jeff Fanning had an excellent chance to increase Bowdoin's lead when he intercepted a pass in the Colby zone and skated in on McKinney. But his shot hit the left post to keep it a o ne-goal contest. Minutes later, Brendan Cosgrove had a bid for Colby, but his snap-shot from between the circles was stopped by the leg pads of Messina.

The Polar Bears cashed in on the power play midway  through the frame when a shot from above the left circle by Kyle Lockwood deflected off Bowdoin's Harry Matheson and into the cage at 10:34 to make it 3-1. The Mules answered moments later when a slapshot from the point by Tommy Kader skipped through traffic and past Messina at 13:09.

Messina shut the door from there, making 23 saves in the victory. McKinney stopped 22 shots in the defeat. Colby went 0-4 on the power play while Bowdoin scored on two of their three chances.

In a ceremony following the game, Bowdoin's Kyle Shearer-Hardy received the Peter Schuh Award, an annual honor recognizing the Most Valuable Player of the Bowdoin-Colby game played in Brunswick. The teams will play a non-conference game tomorrow evening in Waterville.

All photos courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images Photography.