BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's ice hockey team cruised to a weekend sweep of NESCAC opponents, defeating Connecticut College 7-0 on Saturday afternoon at Watson Arena. The Polar Bears improve to 5-3-1 (3-2-1 NESCAC) while the Camels fall to 2-6-0 (2-4-0 NESCAC).
The game was the final match of the opening semester for both squads. Bowdoin will return to actiona January 3 at Wentworth while the Camels will next play at Oswego on December 30.
Colin Downey had a goal and two assists for Bowdoin, who also received a pair of goals from Tim McGarry. Richard Nerland made 20 saves in his fourth career shutout.
Bowdoin scored twice in the opening period on nearly identical plays. At 8:09, Jordan Lalor took a feed from Ollie Koo and blasted a shot from the point that Colin Downey redirected past Camel netminder Mike Petchonka. Late in the frame, Lalor took another pass from Koo at the blue line and ripped a shot that slipped through traffic in front to give the hosts a two-goal edge at 17:49.
After killing off a 5x3 power play that overlapped the end of first and beginning the second, Bowdoin scored on a pair of breakaways to double the lead. At 7:11, Harry Matheson received a feed from Ryan Collier and skated in alone on Petchonka, snapping a top-shelf shot to make it 3-0. Shorthanded moments later, Bowdoin's Rob MacGregor and Robert Toczylowski broke loose behind the Camel defense. Petchonka stopped the initial shot by MacGregor, but Toczylowski knocked home the rebound for a four-goal lead at 8:39.
Tim McGarry added his team-high sixth and seventh goals of the season at 8:13 and 12:28 of the third period before John McGinnis added a tally at 13:28. Petchonka made 35 saves and allowed six goals in 52:28 before being replaced by Andrew Margolin, who made a single save and permitted a goal over the final 7:32.
