The men’s and women’s ice hockey teams both ended historic seasons in the NCAA quarterfinals on the first Saturday of Spring Break.
The women hosted the Elmira Soaring Eagles in their quarterfinal bout. The Polar Bears found themselves with a shot advantage in the first period but were unable to convert any of those opportunities into goals. Elmira responded with plenty of pressure and with less than two minutes remaining in the period, scored its first goal. A second goal followed quickly in the beginning of the second period to put Bowdoin in a 2-0 hole. Senior goalie Kayla Lessard was able to stop some of Elmira’s point-blank opportunities and had 21 saves on the night, but continued pressure from the Soaring Eagles led to two more goals in the third period and sealed a 4-0 victory. Bowdoin was never able to get its offense rolling and ended up 0 for 5 on the power play.
The men travelled to Utica for their NCAA quarterfinal. The first period went well for the Polar Bears as they found two goals within two minutes from Ollie Koo ’14 and Harry Matheson ’14. Utica fought back in the second period with an early goal and looked to increase pressure on a couple of power plays, but Bowdoin was able to stop the bleeding and kill the man advantage three times to preserve a 2-1 lead going into the third period. Once again Utica scored early in the period to even the game. Both teams then traded opportunities for the rest of the period until just under five minutes remaining, when Utica scored to take a one goal lead. Bowdoin pulled goalie Max Fenkell ’15 to try and even the game, but Utica broke containment and put away an empty-netter to seal the 4-2 victory.
Both the teams’ NCAA tournament runs followed Bowdoin winning the NESCAC Championships.
The women took on tournament host Middlebury in the NESCAC final. The Polar Bears wasted no time, jumping to a 1-0 lead when Ariana Bourque ’16 put away her own rebound after Chelsea MacNeil ’15 had intercepted the puck in Middlebury’s zone. The Panthers found an equalizer midway through the second period on the power play, but were unable to convert other high quality chances in the period. Early in the third period captain Kayte Holtz ’13 stole the puck and backhanded a pass to Colleen Finnerty ’15, who put Bowdoin up 2-1. Bowdoin weathered the ensuing storm of Panther pressure and came away with its first NESCAC Championship since 2004.
The men hosted Williams in their championship game. The Polar Bears found themselves on a power play halfway through the first period and they did not squander the opportunity. John McGinnis ’15 fed Colin Downey ’14, who ripped a shot past the Williams goaltender to go up 1-0. In the waning moments of the first period Bowdoin’s continued pressure paid off when Koo was able to find Matheson in front of the net. Matheson settled the puck and gave Bowdoin a two goal lead with less than five seconds remaining in the period.
Both teams traded power plays throughout the next period, including a brief 5-on-3 opportunity for the Polar Bears, but the score remained the same. Williams came out the gates firing in the third period and cut the lead in half just a minute into the frame. With the help of some acrobatic goaltending from Fenkell, the Polar Bears were able to hold on to the 2-1 lead and win their first NESCAC Championship since their 2011 title was vacated due to a hazing scandal.
After the conclusion of the D-III tournaments, Holtz was awarded First Team All-American recognition and men’s captain Tim McGarry ’13 garnered Third Team All-American honors.