NCAA Tournament First Round FINAL: Bowdoin 5/UMASS-Dartmouth 2

UMass-Dartmouth       2
Bowdoin                    5
FINAL   Preview  Round Table  Box Score    Bowdoin Recap   The Bowdoin Orient Article 

Pre-game: It appears Coach Meagher has internalized all the variables and will go with Steve Messina in net tonight. Ryan Collier also back in the lineup for the PBs (we can call them that, right?). Curious as to what a Corsair( UMD's mascot) is? Check out a pic(click to enlarge) of their unis (hat tip Benet Pols).

Corsairs are a type of pirate

1st Period: And we're underway at the Sidney J Watson Arena. Downey/Matheson/Weiniger get the start and not the "Legion of Doom" line that started the NESCAC playoffs. Four officials tonight, 2 refs and 2 linesmen. Not sure if it is NCAA tourney rules are not. One of the refs calls a hitting from behind penalty on the Corsairs Nick Marquis 6:21 in, a penalty the Bowdoin announcers call "soft", and the Polar Bears go on the PP. They briefly have a 5-3 on a tripping penalty against player to watch Stephen Ginand. Bowdoin eventually scores on a 5-4 when Jay Livermore rips a shot from the point. Not long after getting out of the box, Ginand gets called for cross checking at 10:45 and the PBs go on the PP for the third time.

It takes almost 15 minutes of game action and 17 Bowdoin shots before UMD gets a shot on goal. At the end of the period, shots in favor of Bowdoin 19-3. Crosair's Ryan Williams (G, Sr. ) keeping UMD in the game with 18 saves. Trending topics from the announcers include midterms, MIDTERMS and the pace of the game being a bit slower than the NESCAC Championship weekend games. 

One of Ryan Williams 51 saves 

2nd Period: About five minutes into the period, Ollie Koo gets absolutely robbed by Williams' glove. Despite being outshot by over 20, UMD ties it up when  Evangelos Stefanou stuffs in a rebound from a William Colclough shot 6:19 in. Dylan Shamburger puts a backhander in on a rare rebound left by UMD's Williams with 10:20 left in the period. UMD' gets their first PP chance when Rob MacGregor is called for contact to the head 11:27 in. PBs kill the penalty but UMD's Casey Skolnik scores his first collegiate goal on a soft rebound 14:32 in to tie it at 2. The Corsairs captain asks the ref for the puck so Skolnik can take home the momento. 

Action packed end of the period. Bowdoin goes on the PP at the two minute warning on a penalty on UMD's William Colclough. Kyle Lockwood goes across the middle, uses the D as a screen and rips a wrist from the top of the circle to put Bowdoin up 3-2. Announcer (former Bowdoin goalie) calls it "one of the toughest shots to save in hockey," blocker side low. Jay Livermore then gets an interference penalty moments later, and UMD will start the 3rd on the PP. Shots in favor of Bowdoin for the game 41-14. 

3rd Period: In the first twenty seconds, Bowdoin star Dan Weiniger goes down. After a minute or so laid out on the playing surface, Weiniger is able to skate off the ice on his own volition. The Bowdoin announcers credit the PBs fore-check on the penalty kill, but point out they don't actually score that many short handed goals. After the ole' reverse jinx, John McGinnis scores a short-handed goal on a beautiful feed from Downey at 1:18 in to make it 4-2.  As they did after their third goal, Bowdoin commits a penalty almost immediately, Toczylowski to the box for boarding at 2:05. Call draws jeers as Weiniger had taken a hit to the head just a few minutes earlier.

Despite going to the sixth ranked liberal arts college in the country, the announcers call themselves "unintelligent" because they only discover the pronunciation guide for the visiting Corsairs with 15 minutes left in the game. Just a period removed from his first goal as a collegian, Skolnik puts Bowdoin on the PP halfway through the period when he is called for hooking (no, he doesn't go to Yale). Shortly after the Crossairs kill the penalty, Al Milley scores his first goal of the year, a wrist shot in from the point with an assist from Downey. 7:22 to go. Continuing the trend of Bowdoin penalties after goals and the Skolnik Corrolary of getting a penalty after your first goal of the year, Milley gets called for charging with 5:24 remaining. 

Meagher's men kill off the penalty and in the final minutes pursue 60 shots with much encouragement from the Bowdoin announcers. They don't get there, but the PBs do end the game with a 56-22 shots advantage. It's off to Utica, NY for Bowdoin for a quarterfinal matchup with the Utica Pioneers in the NCAA D-III men's ice hockey tournament on Saturday, March 9th at 8:30 PM.  

The win is the 23rd of the season, a school record for wins in a season by a Bowdoin men's hockey team, and the 498th of Coach Terry Meagher's career. 

Thanks to Bowdoin Sports Info, here are all five Polar Bear goals from this evenings contest.