WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The fourth seeded Williams Ephs survived a third period surge and overtime challenge from the Bowdoin men's hockey team to advance to the NESCAC Semifinals with a 4-3 OT win.

The reigning NESCAC Champion, Bowdoin concludes its season with a 14-8-3 overall record. The Polar Bears have suffered just two playoff loses over the past five seasons, en route to back-to-back Championships. The Ephs advance to the Semifinals with a 15-8-2 mark.

Following the first 20 minutes of play, Williams held a 1-0 edge, off goals from Colby Cretella with just 33 ticks off the clock. Forcing the puck past Peter Cronin on the backhand side, Cretella gave his team the lead. Williams tacked on their second 5:56 into the middle frame off a top shelf laser from David Italiano.

Bowdoin cut the Ephs lead in half with a goal 15:57 into the second period. Spencer Altunez was credited with the assist after his initial backhanded wraparound drew Sean Dougherty to the post, allowing Matthew Lison to deposit an open shot on the opposite side.

The two teams combined for three goals in the final ten minutes of the third period. Williams pushed their lead back to two goals with a successfully executed penalty shot from Alex DeBaere, who faked a forehand before beating Cronin with a backhander through the five-hole. Bowdoin answered just 39 second later as Connor Quinn pulled the Polar Bears within one, off feeds from tim Coffey and John McGinnis. Brendan Conroy evened the game with under two minutes remaining, forcing overtime, with an assist from Zach Kokosa. It took 9:26 of overtime play before Ephs' senior Craig Kitto ended the game after besting his defender in a one-on-one and firing a shot over Cronin's right shoulder.

Dougherty made 44 stops in net for the Ephs, including four in overtime. Cronin also made four stops in bonus time and 35 saves overall.