Wednesday's originally scheduled game was postponed due to weather conditions in Oswego
BRUNSWICK, Maine - After a one day delay, the Bowdoin College men's ice hockey team will play in the NCAA Division III First Round against Oswego State University on Thursday afternoon.
Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. and fans can click the links above for live coverage.
The champions of the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the Polar Bears enter the game with a record of 17-8-2 and qualified for the tournament by winning three-straight games in the league tournament, including a 3-2 double-overtime victory against Amherst in the title game. This will be Bowdoin's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five seasons.
Oswego enters as the champions of the State University of New York Athletic Conference following a 7-6 victory over Geneseo in the conference championship match last weekend. The Lakers own an overall record of 20-6-2.
The teams have met on two prior occasions, both in the NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons (2010, '11). Oswego came away with a 9-2 win in 2010 and a 7-5 triumph in 2011.
ABOUT THE POLAR BEARS
Entering the 2013-14 season with high expectations as the reigning NESCAC Champions, Bowdoin stumbled out of the gate to a 1-2-1 start, but found its footing in December and January as they rolled off a 7-1-1 mark. The Polar Bears closed out their season with a loss at Tufts to fall to fifth-place in the league standings entering tournament play.
But for the second time in four years, as they did in 2011, the Polar Bears won the tournament as the fifth seed, capturing a dominant 6-3 win at Middlebury, a convincing 5-4 win over top-seeded Trinity in the semifinals and surviving a double-overtime epic to trip Amherst in the title game, 3-2.
Colin Downey (21 goals, 16 assists) leads a Bowdoin offense that was second in the NESCAC in scoring this season (3.93 goals/game). Downey, who is seventh in the nation in points/game (1.37) and has racked up 117 points in 99 career games. John McGinnis, who netted the double-OT game-winner against Amherst, has totaled 24 assists and is 12th in Division III in points/game (1.30).
Goaltender Max Fenkell back-boned the Polar Bears' run to the NESCAC title, as he posted a .910 save percentage and 2.70 GAA in the last three games.
Bowdoin has reached the quarterfinals in each of its last three NCAA appearances. The Polar Bears earned a bye to Oswego in the 2010 tourney, defeated Neumann and lost at Oswego in 2011 and beat UMass-Dartmouth before falling to Utica in the quarterfinals last winter.
Six Polar Bears on the current roster saw action in the 2011 game, with two likely to play on Wednesday. Current senior co-captain Harry Matheson had two goals in the loss four years ago.
ABOUT THE LAKERS
Wednesday will mark Oswego's 15th trip to NCAAs in the program's history, including its fifth-straight appearance. The Lakers have also made a showing in the Frozen Four each of the last four seasons, including runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2013. With Saturday night's win in the SUNYAC Championship game, the Lakers reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth-straight year.
On offense, the Lakers are paced by freshmen Matt Galati and Alex Botten, the team's two 30+-point getters. Galati leads the team in both points (34) and goals (21), with two goals and an assist in the SUNYAC Championship game. In goal, Matt Zawadzki has posted a 13-2-2 record in his freshman year with a .918 save percentage and a 2.25 goals against average.
