WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - First-year Harry Matheson scored a pair of goals the Bowdoin College men's ice hockey team defeated arch-rival Colby for the third time this season in the NESCAC Semifinals at Williams College on Saturday afternoon. The Polar Bears (17-7-1) advance to their fifth NESCAC title game where they will face the host Ephs at 2:00 p.m. Sunday for the conference championship.
Daniel Weiniger scored Bowdoin's other goal while Colin Downey added a pair of assists. Steve Messina finished with 23 stops in net for the Polar Bears. Chris Buonomo netted Colby's only goal of the game.
Bowdoin had a great chance with less than five minutes to go in the first, when senior Owen Smith threw the puck on net. Junior Aaron O'Callahan rushed in and almost chipped in the rebound, but Colby goaltender Cody McKinney covered it up to prevent the goal, and the score remained at 0-0 after 20 minutes.
The game stayed deadlocked well into the second period, when Bowdoin finally broke the ice with seven minutes remaining in the frame. After Downey took a shot from the right circle, the puck skidded behind the net and was corralled by Matheson. The rookie forward then skated to the bottom of the left circle and slipped the puck by McKinney to give the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead.
Colby wasted no time in responding, as freshman Jack Bartlett got his stick on a shot from the left circle by junior Patrick Bursee and redirected it past Messina.
With a minute to go in the second, the freshman duo of Downey and Matheson hooked up again to put the Polar Bears in front. Downey made a great individual effort on the play, as he fell to the ice but managed to reach out and poke the puck to Matheson. Matheson settled the puck at the right circle and fired a shot into the top left corner of the net, giving Bowdoin a 2-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Colby had a great chance to tie in the first minute of the third period when junior Mike Doherty skated in on net and made a nice deke to his right, but the puck just slipped off his stick as he tried to flick it on goal. Bowdoin also had an opportunity to score at the halfway point of the third when sophomore Rob MacGregor made a nice pass to Smith on the left side, but his scoring bid sailed past the right post and the score remained at 2-1. Doherty got another excellent chance to score for Colby three minutes later when the puck found its way to his stick in front of the net, but Messina made a great diving save to deny the goal.
With four minutes left in the game, Weiniger delivered the dagger for the Polar Bears by netting his team-best 19th goal of the season. After receiving a pass from senior defenseman Kyle Shearer Hardy, the sophomore forward ripped a wrist shot just under the crossbar from the right circle to give Bowdoin the 3-1 lead.
Colby had some chances to score late in the game, but Messina made several big saves to keep the Mules off the board and lift the Polar Bears to the finals. McKinney made 25 saves on 28 shots in 58:56 minutes of play.
The finals appearance will be the second in a row for Bowdoin, who lost in the NESCAC finals last year to Middlebury. This will be the first time in five appearances that Bowdoin will face a team other than Middlebury in the conference title match. The Polar Bears defeated Williams earlier in the season by a score of 3-2.
