Maine Hockey Journal

Polar Bears come up short against Trinity

The Trinity College men’s hockey team, ranked No. 6 in the country by d3hockey.com, capped a two win weekend with a 3-1 victory over the Bowdoin College Polar Bears on Saturday afternoon in Hartford. The Bantams improve to 10-3-1 overall, 6-2 in New England Small College Athletic Conference action, while Bowdoin falls to 4-7-3 overall and 2-5-3 in conference play.

Bowdoin found themselves down two skaters in the first period due to two consecutive penalties called against the Polar Bears.

With Trinity controlling the puck in front of Bowdoin goalie Peter Cronin, Polar Bear junior Matt Sullivan intercepted an errant Trinity pass, skated down ice one-on-one with Trinity’s sophomore goalie Alex Morin, and flicked a wrister into the net past Morin to give Bowdoin a 1-0 advantage, despite being out-manned two skaters.

In the second period, the Bantams picked up the pace and knotted the game at one thanks to a power play goal from freshman defender Michael O’Brien, who beat Cronin with a shot, assisted by senior captain Elie Vered. Less than four minutes later, Trinity took the lead when sophomore Griffyn Martin fired a slapshot towards the net that was re-directed by defenseman Connor Hegarty and finally corralled and poked in by junior Brandon Cole to put the Bantams up 2-0.

Trinity’s defense held Bowdoin to just a single shot during the third period as the Bantams outshot the Polar Bears 44-20 on the afternoon.

With 1:37 remaining to play, Bowdoin pulled Cronin to add an extra attacker, looking to tie the game, however Trinity junior forward Ryan Cole controlled a lose puck, skated to center ice, and dumped the puck into the empty net to seal the 3-1 victory.

Cronin finished with 41 saves on 43 shots while Morin posted 19 stops. The Bantams return to the ice on Friday, January 22, when they travel to Tufts for a NESCAC matchup against the Jumbos at 7 p.m.

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