The men’s hockey team has won four of its past five games, including Head Coach Terry Meagher’s 500th career victory, to build momentum for its two home games against Connecticut College and Tufts this weekend.
The Polar Bears most recently came away with a 5-1 victory over UMass-Dartmouth on December 1, a team that Meagher described as “traditionally one of the strongest teams in Division III.”
Matt Rubinoff ’16 contributed two goals and an assist to the victory.
“It was the most cohesive 60 minutes I think we’ve played as a team,” said Rubinoff. “And I think that shows our depth.”
Bowdoin outshot UMass-Dartmouth 47-11, with John McGinnis ’15, Connor Quinn ’15 and Colin Downey ’14 also contributing goals.
This game concluded the Bowdoin-Colby Faceoff tournament, and with the win, Bowdoin won the title. Rubinoff was named MVP of the Faceoff.
On November 30, Bowdoin faced Suffolk University at Colby’s rink. The Polar Bears won with a decisive 5-0 score.
“We knew it was a team that we needed to get on early, and we thought if we could get a couple in early they would sort of deflate, and that’s what we did,” said Rubinoff. “[We had a] solid all-around forecheck, our defense played very strongly, and Steve Messina [’14] was playing great in net.”
Messina made 22 saves in the shutout.
Gabriel Renaud ’16, Rubinoff and Quinn each contributed a goal. Downey tallied two goals.
On November 26, the team faced the University of New England, coming away with a 9-3 victory.
The win was a milestone for Meagher, as it was his 500th win with the Polar Bears. He is the winningest coach in Bowdoin’s history, boasting a .675 winning percentage in his 31 seasons with the College.
“It’s great for the program, and it’s wonderful to be a part of. To be honest…these things are about good players or even better people, and a little bit of luck,” said Meagher.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate here that we’ve had that. The most rewarding part for me though is to be part of a program that’s been traditionally respected and strong, and to be a part of that at this college has been wonderful,” he added.
The players praised Meagher’s coaching.
“Coach Meagher is great,” said Downey. “Just compared to other coaches I’ve had, he’s not a real X’s and O’s type guy, he gives us a basic game plan and lets you go out there and play your game. If he puts you out there it means he has confidence in you. It’s nice playing for a guy like that.”
The victory against the Nor’easters was an exciting one. Heading into the third period, Bowdoin was up 4-3. A dominant third period in which the team scored five power-play goals helped Bowdoin secure the victory.
Several players contributed to the strong offense. Tim Coffey ’15 had a hat trick, netting two goals on the power-play and one while shorthanded. Chris Fenwick ’16, Alex Root ’15, Harry Matheson ’14, Downey and McGinnis all also scored.
Currently, Downey leads the team in points with 12. He credits much of his success to his coach and teammates, as well as simplifying his own game.
“We always like to play hot and spicy hockey,” said Downey.
On November 23, the team had their first home game against storied rival, Colby.
Colby’s Nick Lanza led the Mules to a 4-2 win with a hat trick.
The game was scoreless for almost 30 minutes until Colby took the lead. Bowdoin had several chances, but solid goaltending from Colby’s Sam Parker kept the score at 3-0 Colby until early in the third when Kendall Culbertson ’17 scored.
Colby responded with another goal, making the score 4-1. Brendan Conroy ’17 forced a turnover, assisting Rubinoff’s goal, which brought the score to 4-2, which remained the games final score.
“It was a tale of two cities,” said Meagher. “As well as we played at their place on Friday, they played as well at our place on Saturday. They’re a very disciplined, very structured, well-coached team. They got some big-time saves and big-time goals.”
Despite the loss, the Watson Arena was packed with enthusiastic students and other spectators.
“I thought Saturday rivaled in a really good way some of the best student engagement I’ve seen in ice hockey arenas…and we’re really thankful for that,” said Meagher.
On November 22, Bowdoin defeated Colby with a score of 3-1 in Waterville.
Ollie Koo ’14, Jay Livermore ’14 and Matheson all contributed goals. Max Fenkell ’15 played strongly in net, stopping 30 of 31 shots from Colby.
The team will face Connecticut College (0-7-0) at 7 p.m. tonight and Tufts (1-6-0) at 4 p.m. tomorrow in Watson Arena.