Courtesy of Brian Beard

Courtesy of Brian Beard

Courtesy of Brian Beard

Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last Saturday, the men’s ice hockey team (12–5–1; 8–3–1 NESCAC) completed its season sweep of Colby College (9–7–2; 5–6–1 NESCAC) in a commanding 4–1 win. It was the 225th meeting of the Maine rivals, with the crowd at Watson Arena heightening the competitive spirit displayed on the ice.

The game was action packed from the opening faceoff, with the Polar Bears nearly scoring in the first minute when Gabe Shipper ’26 took a shot that rebounded off the goalie’s pads to Will Rice ’28, who missed the follow-up shot just left.

With about three minutes left in the first period, the team earned its first power play. Shipper took a shot from the top of the ice, which bounced behind Colby’s net to Bryce Bollman ’27, who found Michael Dinges ’26 for a quick shot to the back of the net.

“I think my goal came from the work around me,” Dinges said. “Shipper had it up top; he’s really good with the puck up top there, so he got it down low, and [Bollman] was able to make a great play and slide it through a stick. And then once you score, the crowd goes crazy, and it’s just trying to take it all in.”

With post-whistle penalties on both teams at the end of the first period, the second period started with two minutes of four-on-four play. Just 41 seconds later, Shipper navigated around a Mule before sending a cross-ice pass to Ricky Volpe ’29, who lasered a shot past the Colby goalie for a 2–0 Polar Bear lead.

Head Coach Ben Guite noted the contributions from all class years, including Volpe and the rest of the first years.

“It’s a very competitive lineup to get into, and every time we put someone in, whether they were in the night before or not, they find a way to contribute,” Guite said. “If you’re in the lineup, you’re gonna play, and you’re gonna play big minutes, and you’re gonna be relied upon to have a huge contribution.”

At the end of the second period, Dinges scored his second goal of the evening. With a handful of bodies in front of the net, the senior snuck the puck into the back of the net to make the score 3–0.

Dinges again emphasized the work of his teammates that led to his eventual goal, this time by James Cerepak ’26 and Aidan Lyons ’26.

“[The puck] ended up squirting out to me, and I had an open net looking at me,” Dinges said. “I was able to just put that one in, which was nice, but again, a lot of hard work from Cerepak and Lyons on that one.”

Goalie Jacob Osborne ’28 made 22 saves in the game, holding the Mules to 0–3 on power play opportunities. His only blemish was late in the second period when he was knocked down by a Mule and lost his stick, making it difficult to stop the incoming shot and eventual goal for Colby.

The Mules went on the offensive at the start of the third period, taking many shots on goal with no success. Instead, it was the Polar Bears who put the game out of reach with less than ten minutes left in the game. Bollman skated around three Colby defenders before sending a backhanded shot to the top left corner of the goal for the 4–1 lead.

“I was telling Shipper on the bench a few shifts before that their [defensemen] were pinching, and if he was flinging pucks while I was slashing across, then I could usually get it and then get a zone entry,” Bollman said. “I had my family there, and I relied on my faith that a lot of the things that can happen in a sporting game don’t boil down to what I do.”

While a big win for the Bowdoin and Brunswick communities, Guite emphasized how it’s the same as any other victory in terms of NESCAC standings and playoff implications.

“First off, there are no easy opponents in the NESCAC,” Guite said. “At the end of the day the biggest game of the season, as far as we’re concerned, is the next one. And right now, we have a really quality opponent in Hamilton [College (15–1–2; 11–0–1 NESCAC)] coming out. So, I would encourage all our students to come back and see another great hockey game, because that’s the one that probably should have a lot of fireworks and a lot of excitement in the air, with huge implications for the NCAA tournament.”

The team will return to the ice tonight versus Hamilton at 7 p.m.