Courtsey of Brian Beard

The men’s ice hockey team (3–3–0; 1–2–0 NESCAC) is off to a steady start this season, having won games against Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) (4–6–0) and nationally ranked Endicott College (6–3–0) over Thanksgiving break.

The Polar Bears hosted the Endicott Gulls for its home opener of the season on November 26, securing a 3–2 overtime win. Defenseman Jack Barbro ’27 scored the game-winning goal after a long matchup that tested the strengths of both the offensive and defensive players.

Coming off a loss against Colby College (5–1–1; 2–1–0 NESCAC) on November 22, the team was motivated heading into its faceoff against Endicott. At the time of the game, Endicott was ranked 13th in the nation for Division III Ice Hockey, and its rank has since dropped to 15th.

“Our coaching staff definitely had a big emphasis on that game, because it was a little rocky going into that,” forward Richard Davis ’27 said. “But we had a great opportunity playing Endicott, because they were a top opponent in the country.”

In order to secure the win, the Polar Bears knew that they would have to play an aggressive, organized and fast-paced game, keeping up with the Gulls.

“[Endicott] had [many] kids transfer from Division I teams, so they brought a lot more skill than we had seen in the past,” Davis said. “But when we stick to our structure of playing offense and defense how our coach asked us to, it takes away the time and space they have to make some of those skilled moves, so we really focused on that and kept them with two goals.”

Playing a disciplined game was especially important for the Polar Bears, as Endicott is skilled at stretching the ice and moving quickly between offense and defense. Bowdoin also focused on offensive speed and took advantage of any rebounds it encountered.

After three periods of keeping pace with Endicott, the game went into overtime where the Polar Bears fought their way to a win.

“We knew that we dominated a lot of the game, and we were controlling the pace. I think we had a lot of momentum going into the overtime and a lot of confidence that we could come out with a win,” Barbro said.

After receiving a pass from forward Aidan Lyons ’26, Barbro took the puck up to Endicott’s net and was able to pop it into the goal.

“[Lyons] passed me the puck, and I was just gonna throw it on net. And then I didn’t really have the lane, so I thought I could just take it to the net and try and score,” Barbro said. “It didn’t work out originally, and my whole plan was just to loop back and kind of go for a change. I ended up beating [my opponent] and just threw it at the net. [It was] a little bit of luck, but it trickled in, and we were able to win that game, which was just huge.”

Later in the week, Bowdoin beat out SNHU with a final score of 4–1. Getting four goals on the board was another accomplishment for the Polar Bears. However, the next day, Bowdoin suffered a 1–2 overtime loss to UMass Boston (3–6–0).

“That SNHU game was pretty big, and we were able to score a lot … and open the gates,” Barbo said. “I think that just led into UMass Boston, and [we] obviously didn’t score as much as we wanted to, but we’re just kind of building and building.”

The Polar Bears will host Connecticut College (4–2–1; 3–1–0 NESCAC) tomorrow at 7 p.m. Although the team played some home games over Thanksgiving break, this will be the first weekend that most students are on campus to support the team.

“It’s always pretty exciting,” Barbro said. “All of our fans are there, and putting on the Bowdoin jersey in front of a lot of students and a lot of Brunswick supporters,… that’s definitely a very exciting feeling.”

Additionally, Bowdoin will host a game against Tufts University (4–2–1; 2–2–0 NESCAC) on Sunday. The game will include a teddy bear toss as part of the team’s cancer awareness night. When Bowdoin scores its first goal of the night, spectators are encouraged to throw new or gently used stuffed animals onto the ice, which will be donated to local hospitals after the game. The team plans to have several other charity-focused games throughout the course of the season, including a military appreciation night.

“We get a lot of support and try to support others as well,” forward James Cerepak ’26 said.