BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's ice hockey team scored four times in the second period and held off a late rally to defeat Wesleyan University, 6-4, on Friday evening at Sidney J. Watson Arena.
The Polar Bears snap a brief two-game winless skid and improve to 12-5-3 (9-3-3 NESCAC) while the Cardinals fall to 11-9-1 (6-8-1 NESCAC). The Polar Bears can clinch home ice for the NESCAC quarterfinals with at least a tie in Saturday's home game against Trinity at 4:00 p.m.
Six different Polar Bears found the back of the net on Friday, as Harry Matheson, Colin Downey and Ollie Koo each boasted one-goal, one-assist efforts. John Guay had two goals in the loss for Wesleyan.
Both teams enjoyed plenty of scoring opportunities in the first period with Bowdoin holding a 17-10 advantage in shots. Bowdoin's Steve Messina made several key saves early in the game to keep the Cardinals scoreless. The Polar Bears scored shorthanded late in the first period when Matheson picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and broke loose behind the Wesleyan defenders, beating Glenn Stowell with a backhand shot at 15:46.
The teams combined for six goals in a furious second period. The Polar Bears increased their lead to 2-0 when a Tim Coffey centering pass deflected off a Wesleyan defender and trickled past Stowell at 3:32. John McGinnis blasted a slap shop from the top of the left circle at 11:14 before Rob MacGregor notched a wraparound goal at 11:14 to give the hosts a four-goal cushion.
Wesleyan stopped the bleeding with a shorthanded goal off a neutral zone turnover. Keith Beuhler picked up a loose puck and skated around a Bowdoin defender, beating Messina below the blocker at 13:22. The Cardinals reduced their deficit to 4-2 with a slap shot by John Guay that slipped through traffic at 15:20. The Polar Bears were able to halt the momentum of the surging Cardinals with a power play goal that featured a terrific cross-ice pass from Jordan Lalor to Colin Downey, who banged home a one timer past new Wesleyan goaltender Matt Hadge at 16:26 to give Bowdoin a 5-2 edge after two frames.
Just over halfway through the third period, the Cardinals reduced their deficit to two goals when Geoff Mucha's wide angle shot beat Messina through the legs at 10:04. The Polar Bears responded 27 seconds later with an odd man rush as Colin Downey connected with Koo on the weak side for a one-timer. The Cardinals answered again with 2:59 remaining as Geoff Mucha found Guay with a quick pass from behind the net to make it 6-4.
Wesleyan could get no closer as Steve Messina made 30 saves between the pipes for the Bowdoin. Glenn Stowell (18 saves, four goals, 31:14) and Matt Hadge (10 saves, two goals, 26:06) split time in net for the Cardinals. Both teams took 34 shots on net in the game.
