Utica Pioneers (21-5-2) 4
It was over when...: Utica's Eric Peterson (F, SR.) netted an empty net goal with 53.4 seconds remaining to cap off four unanswered tallies and send the Pioneers to their first ever NCAA D-III men's ice hockey Final Four in what Utica Coach Gary Heenan called a "win by committee." Bowdoin's most successful season in program history came to an end after the Polar Bears carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission for the third time in the last four games.
Neither team seemed to find their rhythm in the first ten minutes of play, as the Utica radio announcers said it was "blue line to blue line." For Utica, it was their first game in twenty days, so there may have been a bit of getting the rust off. For Bowdoin, as Coach Meagher said, "the first ten minutes were about feeling out the sheet of ice itself."
Bowdoin struck first with 8:22 remaining in the first period. Shortly after Max Fenkell (G, So.) stuffed a Peterson shot on a centering pass from Joel Wetmore (F, Fr.) behind the net, the puck trickled out to UC's Matt Baird (D, So.). Baird took a slap shot that Harry Matheson (F, Jr.) blocked and subsequently gained possession of the puck. Matheson quickly broke out of the zone for a 2-1 with Ollie Koo (D/F, Jr.). Matheson shuffled the puck over to Koo for a beautiful top shelf one timer. It was Koo's sixteenth goal of the year and his team leading 34th point (16-18-34).
Just over two minutes later, the Polar Bears would strike again. After Colin Downey (F/D,Jr.) gained the offensive zone he took it to the top of the left circle where he dropped it off for Matheson. The junior from Ontario took one touch and then fired it past the glove of Nick Therrien (F, Jr.). Alex Milley (D, Sr.) also garnered a helper on the play. The Polar Bears hit the 1st intermission with a lead in their fourth straight elimination game (NESCAC semis/finals, NCAA First round).
Despite being down 2-0, Utica Coach Gary Heenan felt the Pioneers played well, saying "we had our chances (in the first). The message in between period was stay on the game plan, just keep doing what we're doing."
The Pioneers got a huge momentum bump by scoring in the first minute of the second frame. After Steve Zappia (D, Jr.) corralled it in the defensive zone, he started the break out to captain Evan Chlanda (F, Sr.). Chlanda took it down the right wing and centered it to a streaking Jordan Hobaica (F, Jr.), who stuffed it home for just his fourth goal of the year. The junior forward is from nearby Clinton, NY, home of the Hamilton Continentals. Heenan said "Hoby (Hobaica)'s not a goal scorer. For him to score was a huge lift for us."
The rest of the period was "sloppy" according to Heenan. There was a total of five penalties (3 on Bowdoin, 2 on Utica), with Bowdoin outshooting Utica 14-4, despite the Pioneers having the PP edge . "We made some really questionable plays in the second period and if Nick Therrien didn't stop the puck several times, we wouldn't be sitting in front of you here today, smiling."
One such questionable play occurred about nine minutes into the period, when Baird dawdled in the defensive zone on a delayed offside call. Dylan Shamburger (F, Fr.) was able to dislodge the puck to Connor Quinn (F, So.), who had his open look stuffed by Therrien. Shamburger then followed up on the rebound, only to be denied by the sprawling goaltender.
The lack of shots also threw Fenkell off his game a bit, saying "the first (period) I got into a bit of a rhythm, the second it was hard not seeing a lot of shots."
The Polar Bears carried a precarious one goal lead into the final frame. Cognizant of Bowdoin's tough schedule, Heenan said, "they played four games in eight days; we talked about it. We thought we could wear them down in the third." Coach Meagher, however, didn't feel "there was a fall off at all" in his teams play in the final frame.
The Pioneers drew even three and a half minutes into the period, when Chlanda battled through three Bowdoin defenders to find Trever Hertz (F, Jr.), who fired a shot from the left circle past the glove of Fenkell into the top corner.
As play wore on in the heated tournament game knotted at two, play became chippy. Lots of pushing occurred after the whistle in front of the net as players sought to protect their respective goalie, but the refs kept control and no penalties were called.
With about 4:45 remaining in regulation, Jon Gaffney (F, Jr.) gained possession of the puck behind the net and found Chlanda at the left point. The 6'4" defender faked a slap shot and then threw it in front of the net; the puck deflected off Ridge Garbutt (F, Jr.) , who "fought to get high on the tip" (according to his coach),and into the net. Despite playing a solid game, Fenkell took a lot of the burden on his shoulders, saying it was a save he "definitely should have had; then they got the momentum off that and arguably if that save is made, it's a different story."
Fighting to keep their season alive, Bowdoin pulled Fenkell with 1:25 to play. The Pioneers iced their first ever NCAA tournament victory when Josh Schmitt (D, Sr.), who is usually out of the lineup, made a "great composure play"(Heenan) to thread the needle to Peterson, who put in an empty net goal.
Heenan played Schmidt as the seventh defender in what he called a "gutsy move," which he made because he thought special teams would be a key in the game. There were eight total power plays, with Bowdoin going 0 for 3 and Utica going 0 for 5 on the man advantage.
Coach Heenan, who played his collegiate hockey at Hamilton in the 90s, called Coach Meagher "one of the legends of the game." In regards to the Bowdoin players, he called them a "classy group of kids" that "had us on the ropes for a lot of that game." He continued, "Certainly there's some pride in beating a NESCAC opponent because we just respect those guys through and through. That team (Bowdoin) has been there three of the last four years (the NCAA tournament), they deserve all the credit in the world."
With four high school playoff games played at the Aud before the NCAA game, there was much speculation about the quality of he playing surface. The puck seemed to take some odd bounces and the pace of the game appeared a step slow for two rosters full of talented skaters. The Pioneers Louie Educate (F, So.), one of the best skaters in the country, showed off some of the skill that has netted him 77 points in just two years as a collegian, but he also had trouble with his handle at times and lost his footing on more than one occasion.
If the surface was a factor, neither team neither team claimed it as a game changer. Bowdoin senior co-captain Tim McGarry (D, Sr.) said the "puck was bouncing a little bit but both teams are playing on the same ice. No advantage either way." Fenkell added that it was a bit of a "chip it out, chip it in type of game" but said the that on all the goals the puck came in cleanly. The Pioneers Chlanda said "it was a little beat up, but both teams are playing on the same surface. There's no excuses, both teams are at the same advantage."
As far as the pressures of midterms and playing four games in eight days, Bowdoin wasn't making any excuses. Mcgarry said, "We're always students first, we took care of what we had to in the classroom. The NESCAC academic schedule is never easy, we're used to taking tests the same week -sometimes the same day - as games."
In terms of the goaltending decision, Coach Meagher said it is "a little more of a challenge when you get into a one and out tournament," and that "we have two very capable goalies." When asked if the leadership council had a say in today's decision to play Fenkell over Steve Messina (F, Jr.), he said yes. Fenkell made 21 saves on 24 shots to drop his first decision of the season. He finishes the year at 10-1-1.
The Pioneers won in front of a capacity crowd of nearly 4,000 at the Utica Auditorium Memorial. From the "you see" of the national anthem to the ubiqutous "Let's Go UC" chants, the crowd was amped up for the first ever NCAA tournament game in program history.
Hobaica said "you hear the crowd roaring, there's nothing like that at all. You can't deny that's a big boost for us late in the game." Heenan added "we've got it made here. You can't beat the atmosphere. For us to earn the home ice game, that got us through the game, no question about it. It's emotional. You're walking off the ice and you hear them chant U-C, it's a big time feeling and it's fun."
The Pioneers head to Lake Placid, where they will face Wisconsin Eau-Claire in a national semifinal game on Friday, March 15th at 7:30 PM. In the other semifinal, Oswego State will face off against Middlebury rival Norwich at 4 PM on the 15th. Of note, all three Pool-C (at large) bids (Eau-Claire, Utica, Norwich) made it to Lake Placid.
Bowdoin ends the season with their first official NESCAC men's hockey title (2011 was vacated for hazing) and the most wins in program history (23); Coach Meagher ends the 2012-13 campaign just two wins short of 500 for his career. McGarry leads a senior class that made the NCAA tournament three of their four years, losing in the quarterfinal round all three times to an up-state New York team, twice to Oswego(2010,2011) and now once to Utica.
Player of the game: Nick Therrien (G, Jr.) Therrien made 27 saves on 29 shots, including some of what coach Meagher would call "timely" ones en route to his 19th win of the season. The junior from New Hampshire received universal acclaim from both coaches and even the opposing goaltender, with Fenkell saying "Nick made a couple huge saves for them."
Box Score: Bowdoin 2/ Utica 4
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