The Bowdoin Men's Hockey Team continued its impressive start to the season with two convincing wins, moving them up to 11th in the nation in the most recent NCAA DIII poll.
Bowdoin's first victory, a 5-0 thrashing of Skidmore on Friday, was a testament to the outstanding play of Bowdoin's back line. The defense only allowed nine shots on goal, all of which were saved by George Papachristopoulos '06, who recorded his third shutout of the season. Papachristopoulos is currently the second-highest rated goalkeeper in the conference.
Bowdoin's second win of the weekend, a 6-2 victory over Castleton on Saturday, increased the team's winning streak to four games. Within this four game span, the team has outscored its opponents by a remarkable 26-4 margin, improving its overall record to 5-1-0.
Bowdoin's only loss came at the hands of Babson, which snuck up from behind to steal a victory away from the Polar Bears on November 19.
Much of the offense in last weekend's games came from captain Adam Dann '06, who contributed two goals in each game. These four goals made him the highest goal scorer in the NESCAC division and merited player of the week honors.
The presence of a player of Dann's caliber makes the Polar Bears legitimate contenders against any team within the conference, but Dann credits his teammates with this year's success.
"What I like about this team is that we seem to control our own destiny," he said.
Even with all this early success there is a general consensus among the players that they could be playing better.
"I don't think our play has reflected our real potential so far this season," said Steven Thompson '08. "I feel that we will gradually improve until we reach our goal of playing in the NESCAC finals."
Bowdoin hopes to continue its winning streak throughout this weekend with two games against Colby, one at home and one on the road. Colby currently leads the NESCAC with a 7-0 overall record.
"The fans have a lot of fun at these games and we definitely feed off their energy so hopefully we will have a good fan base at both games," said Greg McConnell '07.