After a resounding 6-2 victory over Colby last Friday, the men's hockey team has struggled in its last two games, falling to Colby and the University of Southern Maine (USM).
At USM on Tuesday, the Polar Bears quickly took the lead after Ollie Koo '14 scored his first goal of the season just three minutes into the first period.
But USM netted an equalizer in the beginning of the third period, and took the lead with two minutes remaining in the contest. The Polar Bears let up another goal on the empty net for a 3-1 loss. Bowdoin goalkeeper Richard Nerland '12 made 28 saves.
"The USM game was another tough loss." said captain Graham Sisson '12. "We were up 1-0 for the majority of the game, but failed to come up with the win. But Nerland played great for us in goal, and was one of the best players on the ice."
The main focus of the week, however, was the Bowdoin-Colby series last Friday and Saturday.
The Polar Bears played a strong game from start to finish at Colby on Friday night. After a first period score by Ryan Carney '12—his first goal of the season—Bowdoin carried the lead into the second period.
Then, with the game at 2-1 in favor of Bowdoin after a goal from Danny Palumbo '15 and a swift Colby response, Robert Toczylowski '13, Tim Coffey '15 and Jordan Lalor '12 all scored in a span of 2:31 for a 5-1 lead.
Rob MacGregor '13 added one more in the third period to seal a 6-2 victory.
On Saturday, the Polar Bears hosted Colby for the second game of the weekend series. In a packed Watson Arena, Bowdoin took an early lead when Lalor won a battle for the puck and found John McGinnis '15 in front of the net.
The Polar Bears found another goal quickly when Colin Downey '14 found Harry Matheson '14 on the back post for a 2-0 lead.
McGinnis scored again towards the end of the second period, but Colby responded almost immediately when a shot got away from goalkeeper Steve Messina '14 for the Mules' first goal.
Colby carried this momentum through into the final frame and found the net three times in the final six and a half minutes, silencing the crowd.
The win broke a 5-game Bowdoin win streak against Colby, the longest since a 7-game streak by Bowdoin between 1992 and 1995.
"You're going to have the other team pushing you, and you can't allow them to gain confidence and momentum," said Head Coach Terry Meagher. "The last seven minutes were very uncharacteristic, but it is a learning process. The errors weren't for a lack of effort, it was playing prevent defense when we're not a prevent defense team. If you want to be a quality team you have to manage your game."
"On Friday night, we played extremely well from start to finish," said Sisson. "On Saturday, we played well in spurts but didn't finish Colby off when we had the chance."
"As a team, we learned that we have to play with a sense of urgency the entire game," he added. "You have to be able to close games out if you want to succeed in the NESCAC."
The Polar Bears have an opportunity for two league wins at home this weekend as they go into the break, facing Tufts tonight and Connecticut College tomorrow.
Bowdoin (3-3-1) currently holds a combined 30-16-6 all-time record against the Camels and the Jumbos, with just one of those losses coming at home. Both Tufts (3-4-0) and Conn. College (1-5-0) lost their most recent games.
"This is the first time that we've played this many games before the break," said Meagher. "While the last two games obviously haven't gone the way we'd like them to have, the best way to address that is to get back on the horse and try again."