Bowdoin continue to enjoy home cooking

The Bowdoin College men’s ice hockey team scored the final six goals of the game to pull away from Hamilton on Saturday evening, 6-1. The Polar Bears (13-5-1, 10-4-1 NESCAC) have won six straight home games dating back to January 9 while the Continentals (11-7-2, 8-6-1 NESCAC) see their seven-game unbeaten streak snapped.

The Continentals carried the pace of play in the first period, thanks in great part to a trio of power plays. Bowdoin’s Chris Rossi held Hamilton at bay with several spectacular saves until the visitors finally converted at 15:58 as Chris Lorec fed Joe Buicko with a nifty cross-ice pass for a one-timer goal.

Hamilton carried their one-goal edge until late into the second period, when Jeff Fanning picked up the puck in the neutral zone and skated down the left side, beating his defender and then tucking a shot inside the left post to tie the game at the 12:57 mark. Less than two minutes later on the power play, Bowdoin took the lead when Kyle Shearer-Hardy ripped a shot from the point that was initially saved by Hamilton’s Scott Hefferman. But Erik Olson pounced on the rebound at 14:40 to give the Polar Bears a 2-1 advantage that they carried into the second intermission.

Bowdoin wasted little time adding to their lead in the third period as Daniel Weinger lofted a puck to the goalie that bounced in front of the cage. Graham Sisson swatted home the loose puck just 12 seconds into the third period. Less than a minute later on the penalty kill, Bowdoin’s Leland Fidler forced a turnover and skated in alone, beating Hefferman glove side to up the lead to 4-1. Senior captain Colin MacCormack put the game on ice with 9:08 remaining, collecting another Hamilton turnover on the penalty kill and beating Hefferman top-shelf with a backhander. MacCormack added another shorthander- his fourth of the season- with 2:57 to play to close out the scoring.

Rossi finished with 23 saves for the Polar Bears to improve to 8-0-1 between the pipes this season for Bowdoin. Hefferman collected 23 stops for Hamilton in 50:52 before being relieved by Ian Stearns, who stopped six shots. Bowdoin finished 1-4 on the power play and held a 35-24 edge in shots, including a 12-3 margin in the final frame, while the Continentals ended 1-6 with the extra man.

(Courtesy of Bowdoin College)

You must be logged in to post a comment Login