Crowds pushed through the snow last Sunday to see the men's and women's hockey teams christen the new Sidney J. Watson Arena.
The women, who faced off against Hamilton in the building's first official game, skated to a 1-1 tie (see related story, page 13), while the men bamboozled the Williams Ephs in a crushing 8-3 win during the evening game.
After the women's game, and a 30 minute official building dedication, the men faced off against NESCAC foe Williams.
Kyle Hardy '11 opened the floodgates with 9:13 elapsed in the first period when he stripped the puck off a Williams defender along the boards and powered home a finish high into the net.
Hardy's second quickly followed at 15:29, as he bagged a power-play goal following a shot from first year Graham Sisson.
Williams pulled a goal back at the end of the first period, but the Bears didn't relinquish momentum. Following intermission, Aaron O'Callahan '12 lit the lamp at 2:14 in the second, for his third goal of the season.
Bowdoin conceded a short-handed goal as the team was caught pinching too high. Williams' senior forward Matt Dreiheim raced from his end of the ice on a breakaway capped with a smooth finish past Bowdoin goalie Richard Nerland '12.
Bowdoin hit number four at 13:30 in the second as Sisson deflected a drive from the point by Brendan Reich '11 past the hapless Ephs net minder on the power play.
Williams responded in the second with a power-play goal of their own at 14:17. However, the Bowdoin offensive unleashed in the third period ultimately proved impossible for Williams to contain. Kyle Hardy completed his hat trick with 6:10 elapsed in the third as he drove home junior Ryan Blossom's intelligent pass from behind the net.
Hardy hit his fourth less than a minute later at 7:04. Blossom grabbed a goal of his own at 16:05 as he hustled to finish a rebound from his own shot. Junior forward Colin MacCormack capped the rout with Bowdoin's eighth goal, assisted by Hardy and Blossom. Nerland stopped a total of 25 shots en route to the historic first win in Watson Arena, including some glove saves early in the game.
Although he amassed a whopping four goals and two assists, Hardy emphasized the role of his fellow Bears in the win. "I was playing with new line mates, Brendan Reich '11 and Jordan Lalor '12, so it was kind of cool playing with two guys that were both under five-foot-ten so we're all kind of small buzzing around," said Hardy.
Coach Sidney J. Watson, the arena's namesake, was no stranger to success. As coach of Bowdoin's men's hockey team, he boasted a record of 326-210-11 in 24 seasons. He guided the team to playoff appearances every year save once, and won the ECAC Division II Championship in 1971, 1975, 1976 and 1978. (See story, page 5)
Surprisingly, considering Bowdoin's performance Sunday, the trouncing delivered to the Ephs was only Bowdoin's first win in five games.
The Bears struggled to maintain the momentum gained at the beginning of the season over Winter Break, falling to Salem State College in an overtime loss in the final of the Salem State Holiday Tournament.
The Bears went on to lose to New England College, St. Anselm and Middlebury, respectively. Bowdoin currently sits in sixth out of 10 in NESCAC, with a conference record of 4-4-1. Hardy cites the work of Coach Meagher and his staff in halting Bowdoin's slip. "After a big loss to Middlebury, the coaches really got on us on Saturday and explained we had to really turn things around," he said.
The opening of the new arena was commemorated with a ceremony featuring President Barry Mills, James W. MacAllen '66, Robert F. White '77, and Director of Athletics Jeff Ward.
Among other things, the honored guests emphasized not only President Mills' leadership in constructing the new arena, but also the excellent work of Meagher during his 26 years with the men's hockey program.
"I guess I would say I had very high hopes and the weekend exceeded them," said Ward. "The rink exceeded them." Rather than host the opening ceremony before the women's hockey game, the first of the afternoon, it was instead held between the two games.
"We wanted to have the dedication ceremonies at the time when we were likely to have the most people," said Ward. "Going between games allowed us to connect with those just going to the women's game or the men's game."
Bowdoin travels to Connecticut College today and will play Tufts in Boston Saturday afternoon. On Tuesday night, the Bears travel north to Waterville, where they will seek to sweep the Colby Mules in the second installment of the NESCAC's most heated rivalry.