BOWDOIN-HAMILTON BOX SCORE

MIDDLEBURY-TRINITY BOX SCORE

BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Bowdoin College men's ice hockey team scored five times in the third period to pull away from Hamilton, 6-2, in a NESCAC Semifinal game played at Sidney J. Watson Arena on Saturday. The Polar Bears (19-5-1) advance to their fourth NESCAC title  game and first since 2007. The Continentals finish their year with a mark of 15-9-2.

The Polar Bears will face Middlebury at 2:00 p.m. Sunday in the NESCAC Championship game at Watson Arena.

Bowdoin had the first great chance of the game, breaking out of their defensive zone on a 3-on-1 . A series of one-touch passes result in a Leland Fidler shot on the back post that was saved by Calvin Bartel midway through the opening period. Bowdoin got on the scoreboard 11:30 into the first frame, when a nice feed from the left boards by Graham Sisson found the waiting stick of Jordan Lalor in front, who redirected the puck past Bartel for a 1-0 lead that they carried into the first intermission.

After Bartel kept the Continentals in contention with several strong saves to open the second period, Hamilton's Joe Houk skated into the offensive zone, handled around a pair of Bowdoin defenders and found Tom Chiappetta on the far post for a top-shelf one-timer with just over nine minutes left in the second frame.

Bowdoin opened the third period by crashing the Hamilton net and converting just 46 ticks into the frame when Al Milley pounced on a loose puck in front to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Bowdoin continued to pressure the goal and added to their lead on the power play at 7:57 when Mike Corbelle ripped a shot from the left point that was redirected into the cage by Daniel Weinger for a 3-1 advantage. Weiniger set up Leland Fidler moments later, chipping a pass to the left circle for Leland Fidler, who snapped a shot that tucked inside the right post. The Polar Bears continued to pour it on, getting another goal from Weiniger, who wristed a top-shelf shot past Bartel at 11:05.

Hamilton stopped the bleeding with 6:47 remaining when Jerome Wallace pounced on a rebound to cut the lead to 5-2. But the Continentals could get no closer and Jeff Fanning added an empty-netter for Bowdoin to make it a 6-2 final.

Weiniger led all scorers with two goals and two assists. Chiappetta had a goal and an assist for the Continentals. Bartel stopped 32 shots in the loss for Hamilton while Chris Rossi collected 26 for the Polar Bears, who have outscored their opponents 23-5 during their current eight-game winning streak.

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Middlebury College men's ice hockey team took command with a three-goal second-period en route to a 4-2 win over Trinity in the NESCAC Semifinals at Bowdoin's Sidney J. Watson Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers (18-4-4) advance to their 11th conference championship tilt tomorrow and will look for their eighth NESCAC crown when they face top-seeded Bowdoin College at 2:00 p.m.

Trinity ends their season with a record of 15-9-2.

An early Trinity penalty resulted in the first tally of the game for the Panthers. After a period of sustained offensive pressure, the Panthers finally capitalized off a series of tipped passes that drew Bantam netminder Wesley Vesprini out of position. Bryan Curran found Ken Suchoski who buried the puck into the net at 7:33 to make it 1-0.

The Panthers took control of the game with a second-period flurry. Middlebury doubled their lead when Jak Knelman found Martin Drolet streaking down the ice. Drolet finished with a short-handed backhander to the top right corner at 5:31. Middlebury made it 3-0 after a forced a turnover in the Trinity defensive zone. Mathieu Dubuc converted on a backhander through a screen past the shoulder of Vesprini at 8:34. After killing off a Trinity 5x3 power play, the Panthers gained a 5x3 of their own and made it a four-goal game when John Sullivan took control of the puck behind the net and wrapped it around the post at 17:23.

Trinity found their way onto the scoreboard at 6:10 of the third frame when Adam Houli picked up pass from Richard Hollstein and beat Middlebury defender in a footrace. Yanchek came out to play puck and Houli easily shot the puck into the empty net earning Trinity's first tally. Vesprini made a nifty save on a breakway for Middlebury with 6:30 remaining and Trinity's Jeffery Menard responded with a great individual effort to beat Yanchek at 16:21 to close the gap to two goals.

The Bantams had a late chance with a two-man advantage thanks to a Middlebury penalty and empty net, but could not draw any closer. Vesprini stopped 36 shots for the Bantams while Yanchek made 26 saves for the Panthers.