The men's hockey team twice battled its way into overtime last weekend, beating Hamilton on Friday and then slipping to Amherst on Saturday.
"We played really hard," said Mike Corbelle '10. "We showed a lot more grit than we had for a lot of the rest of the season."
On Friday, the Continentals took the lead early in the first period with only 31 seconds elapsed. Colin MacCormack '10 struck back with only eight seconds remaining in the first on a power play.
The Bears took the lead just a minute into the second period as Corbelle scored Bowdoin's second goal. Hamilton tied the affair in the third period, bringing the contest into overtime.
Corbelle, not content to draw the game, received a pass from Kyle Shearer-Hardy '11 along the Hamilton blue line before dispatching a thunderbolt into the roof of the net, stunning the home fans and sending the opposing goalie's water bottle yards into the air above the net. Bowdoin goalie Chris Rossi '10 recorded his second win of the season as he stopped an impressive 32 of 34 shots sent his way.
Against Amherst on Saturday, however, the Bears proved less successful under pressure.
The Lord Jeffs 2-0 lead was cut to 2-1 when Hardy scored his ninth goal of the season 13:40 into the second period.
The Bears then leveled the affair in the third period as Mitch Dillon '10 picked a timely opportunity to score his first goal of the season and Bowdoin's second of the game.
In the third period, Amherst jumped in front, yet Corbelle was once again on hand to score a game-tying goal. With only 2:20 remaining in the third, he hit his 10th of the season to earn the Bears a point.
The game ended as the Lord Jeffs scored on the power play in overtime.
Goalie Richard Nerland '12 stopped a staggering 48, shots despite the loss.
"It was disappointing to lose to Amherst," Corbelle said. Nonetheless, Bowdoin's current ferocity represents a major improvement from their string of losses over winter break.
Corbelle liked "the way we didn't give up where eaarlier in the year in that type of situation [down a goal to the No. 1 team in the conference], we would've just folded. But since the USM game, we really saw a turnaround where we didn't give up and really fought back."
"We're rising at the right time," he said. "We're hitting our stride."
Even in the context of his personal scoring exploits, Corbelle was quick to praise his teammates.
"The goals I scored were just a product of the team playing better," he said.
On Friday, the sixth-place Bears look to continue their rich run of form against last-place Wesleyan at Watson Arena at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Bowdoin faces off against fourth-ranked Trinity College at 4 p.m. at home.