Maine Hockey Journal

Polar Bears force tie with UMass-Boston

Brunswick, ME — The Bowdoin College men’s ice hockey team rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit to force a 3-3 tie against UMass-Boston on Saturday. The Polar Bears stand a 1-0-1 this season while the Beacons are 0-1-1.

The teams traded early powerplay chances, and both converted – the first of which came for UMass-Boston when Matt Atsoff put home a weak-side rebound at 3:34 of the opening frame. Bowdoin responded at 6:41 with Graham Sisson’s first collegiate goal, as he slipped the puck behind Beacon goaltender Ryan Donovan to tie the score at one apiece.

The teams remained deadlocked until midway through the second period, when an odd-man chance down the ice resulted in a pretty one-timed chance for UMass-Boston. Dan Styma buried a feed from Vinnie Jacona to give the Beacons a 2-1 lead at 9:35. The visitors extended their lead late in the period, as a cross-ice pass from Zach Barron was converted by freshman Dan Sands, who netted his first career goal to make it 3-1 after two periods of play.

Bowdoin peppered the UMass net to open the third period, and finally converted after earning a powerplay chance with just over eight minutes left. Kyle Shearer-Hardy took a faceoff win from Colin MacCormack and ripped a shot from the blue line that tucked under the crossbar to make it 3-2 with eight minutes remaining. After earning another extra-man chance with under five minutes to play, Shearer-Hardy received a pass from MacCormack and banged home the opportunity in front to tie the game with 4:35 remaining.

The Polar Bears earned another powerplay with 2:13 to go but could not convert, sending the game into overtime. Neither team team could find the game-winner in the extra session.

Both goalies were stellar on Saturday, with Richard Nerland notching 27 saves and Ryan Donovan 39 for UMass-Boston.

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