Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last weekend, the men’s ice hockey team (2–0–0; 2–0–0 NESCAC) started off its season with a winning streak, defeating both Middlebury College (0–2–0; 0–2–0 NESCAC) and Williams College (0–2–0; 0–2–0 NESCAC). Scoring 11 goals in the two games, the team looks strong going into its rivalry matchup at Colby College (2–0–0; 2–0–0 NESCAC) tomorrow.

It didn’t take long for the Polar Bears to get on the board on Friday versus Middlebury. Less than 30 seconds into the first period, defender Isaac Abbott ’27 fired a shot at the Panthers’ goalie, collected the rebound and wrapped around the net before putting the puck in the back of the net.

“Offense is something that we’ve been focusing on a lot through training camp and preseason,” Abbott said. “So just to have that puck go in took a weight off our shoulders and was an exciting moment for me and the team.”

Later in the first period, the team added a second goal during a power play. Abbott passed to Gabe Shipper ’26, who took a shot that was then deflected by Will Rice ’28 into the goal.

After a scoreless second period, forward JJ Lemieux ’28 scored his first goal in a Polar Bear uniform during the third frame, firing a puck from the center dot into the goal to make the score 3–0.

“It was a really good play by [Aidan Lyons ’26], giving it to the middle and just adding some speed, and I wanted to get a shot on goal, try to shoot it through the defender,” Lemieux said. “I saw it bounce over the goalie and in. I feel like when I’m playing my best, I’m not really thinking about any specific plays. It’s all just trusting the preparation that I’ve done throughout the week.”

Justin Wright ’26 added a one-timer goal later in the third period to make the final score 4–0. Switching gears to Williams the following day, Head Coach Ben Guite mentioned how he coached his players to be more active on the ice.

“I thought at times on Friday night we weren’t moving our feet as much as we should have, and we gave [Middlebury] a little more extra time on the puck than they should have gotten,” Guite said. “And so we’re really focused on that between the games, and I thought the guys responded well.”

On Sunday, the team continued its offensive attack, beating the Ephs 7–2. The Polar Bears scored three goals in the first ten minutes, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Defender Colin Wojciechowski ’26 slapped a shot from the right side of the ice, and Lemieux tipped it home for the first score of the afternoon.

Lemieux noted how the team’s emphasis going into the season was scoring, but that needs to be balanced with solid defense play as well.

“[Eleven] goals are great, but I think there’s a lot of different things that go into scoring that many goals. A lot of our goals came from great defensive plays to begin with,” Lemieux said. “I think just staying focused on a complete game will lead to good results on the ice and trending towards what we want to build.”

Two first years had their first collegiate goals in the game, the first from Louie Marcellino ’29 five minutes into the game and the second from Ricky Volpe ’29 off a power play. Rice and Lemieux would each score again, both sophomores securing three goals and an assist on the weekend. In net, Jacob Osborne ’28 played both games with an average 0.967 save percentage.

“I think we have a really good crop of [first years] that have been helpful, and I think our goalie has taken a step into his development, so that gives guys confidence to make plays, knowing that he’s got their back,” Guite said. “And I’ve just been really impressed with our seniors as far as the leadership.”

The Polar Bears will travel to play Colby tomorrow at 7 p.m.