Bowdoin Colby Faceoff, Day One Recap

By Benet Pols

This annual event hosted by Bowdoin and Colby is an unusual holiday tournament in that the host teams can never play each other. Instead of a tournament structure there are four set games. The joint hosts will each play the two visiting teams. In recent years the visitors have been Suffolk and Salve Regina, but this year UMass-Dartmouth replaced Salve Regina.

The Corsairs of UMD are familiar to Bowdoin. The Polar Bears played them last spring in a first round NCAA game in Brunswick. Bowdoin took that tilt from last year’s MASCAC conference tournament champion by a score of 5-2.

In the first day of competition in Waterville on Saturday, Bowdoin took the early game with a 5-0 win over Suffolk while Colby and UMD battled to a 4-4 tie in a seesaw affair. On Sunday, Colby will face-off against Suffolk at 1:00 PM in Brunswick while Bowdoin plays the late game against UMD.

Bowdoin 5  Suffolk 0 
Bowdoin got out to a solid start building a 9-1 shots advantage in the first period before sophomore defender Gabe Renaud (D, ’16) moved down the half board from the point and put a wrist shot in the top corner. Renaud had several good looks at the goal in the game. His first shot, also a wrist shot but from the point, got through traffic and hit the Suffolk goaltender, Brandon Smolarek (G ’16), square in the face. Smolarek never saw it.

The first period ended with Bowdoin holding a 14-7 shots advantage. Bowdoin’s starting goaltender Steve Messina (G ’14) barely saw the puck during the first half of the period. In keeping with Bowdoin’s fairly strict goalie rotation, this was Messina’s turn to start. Max Fenkell had started earlier this week against UNE but was relieved after two periods with a minor injury. Fenkell was not dressed today; rarely seen junior Eric Yoon (G, '15) was dressed to play if needed.

Fenkell wasn’t the only regular missing today’s game. Kyle Lockwood (F, ’14), Ollie Koo (F, ’14), Co-Capt Jay Livermore (D, ’14) and Danny Palumbo (F, '15) all missed this afternoon’s contest. Lockwood, Koo and Livermore have now missed two games. Palumbo had a nasty collision with an open penalty box door Tuesday night in Biddeford when he moved quickly to avoid a UNE player just stepping out of the box.

Bowdoin carried the play during the second period but was held off the board until Matt Rubinoff (F ’16) redirected a high shot from the point with 12:43 remaining in the period. Jay Kourkoulis (D, ’17) and Kendall Culbertson (F ’17) picked up assists. Culbertson’s fore-check shook the puck loose in the corner. The first year got the puck to the point where Kourkoulis let the shot got. Rubinoff redirected it with his stick just around is waist. Culbertson, from Laguna Niguel, CA is leading newcomers in scoring so far this season at 2-2-4 in five games.

Colin Downey (F, ’14) made it 3-0 with 6:19 remaining in the period when he took the puck into the zone on a two on one, held for the shot and found the corner with a wicked wrist shot. Co-Capt. Harry Matheson (F ’14) and first year Mitch Barrington (D, ’17) notched assists.

The period ended with Bowdoin’s shot advantage at 27 to 15.

Bowdoin continued to pressure in the third period but had trouble finishing until late in the period when Downey scored, again on the two-on-one. This time Downey held for the shot but had to follow for his own rebound to score. Tim Coffey (F ,’15) picked up an assist. Connor Quinn (F ,’15) finished the scoring just 17 seconds later when he took the puck end-to-end. Smolarek stopped the initial shot but the puck got through the net minder and dribbled slowly across the goal line.

Messina stopped all 22 Ram shots. He made a big save to preserve the shutout in the third when Suffolk’s David Lazaro (F,’16) on a break down the right lane took Messina deep to the goal line before attempting a wrap-around. Messina got his stick back across the goal line and the rebound was cleared. Final shots were Bowdoin 41, Suffolk 22.

Colby 4  UMD 4 

The late game was a much more evenly played affair with the Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth giving the Mules, wearing their away blue jerseys, everything they could handle.  The big red head, Sam Parker (G, '15), was between the pipes again for Colby; it appears Coach Blaise MacDonald is prepared to use Parker every day if necessary. It was the senior’s sixth consecutive start and, including this game, he has averaged 35 saves per game. Parker has only missed one period; he was pulled after giving up five goals after two against Middlebury on November 17th.

At the other end of the ice UMD’s Ben Vandervies (G,’14) has big shoes to fill since the Corsairs lost Ryan Williams (G, '13) to graduation. Williams backstopped UMD to the NCAA tournament last season where he stopped 51 Bowdoin shots in a losing effort to close his college career.

Colby had several chances on two nearly consecutive power plays in the second half of the period. The Mules controlled the flow of the play but did not put the puck on net much.

The Mules ended the first period down 1-0 when UMD's Shaun Walters (F, ’15) scored off a face-off. Walters was just inside the face-off circle in the slot when the puck came to him. He buried a one-timer in the far side. Assists went to Tanner Zacharewicz (F ,’17) and Mark Restuccia (F, ’16).

At the end of one UMD held an 11-6 shots advantage.

The second period opened with UMass feeling the momentum from their late first period goal. The Corsairs dominated the first seven or eight minutes before Colby found their rhythm. The remainder of the period belonged to the Mules as they built up a 27-16 shots advantage before its end. The Mules also built a 2-1 lead while getting two short-handed goals during the same power play. With Colby’s EJ Rauseo (F ’17) off for holding, senior Ben Chwick (F, '14) picked off an errant Corsair pass just inside the blue line; Chwick broke straight for the goal and rifled a wrist shot high to the glove side from 15 feet. The puck found the top right hand corner.

Just 1:26 later Colby’s Robert McCormick (F, ’15) broke into the zone and let a shot go from a tough angle in the right lane just below the top of the circle. Vandervies got a piece of it but the puck got through for Colby’s’ first, and only, lead at 2-1. Alex Walsh (D, ’16) assisted on McCormick’s goal.

The period ended 2-2 as Yurly Sokayev (F, ’17) answered back with 46 seconds to go. Assists went to Tom Braswell (F, ’17) and Dimitry Antipin (F, ’15).

The Corsairs took the lead on a power play goal with 17:49 remaining in the third.  Zacharewicz netted a goal with Walters and Restuccia being credited with assists. This was a bang bang play with Walters on one side of the net and Zacharewicz at the other. Walters took the feed from Restuccia at the point and drilled it across the goal mouth where Zacharewicz slammed it home.

Parker had to come up big minutes later on another UMD power play with Albert sitting for charging. UMD steadily chipped away at the big Mules shots advantage until with about 8 minutes to go they held a 30-26 advantage. But with shots evened up at 32 a piece and 2:46 on the clock, Colby’s Tyler Lingel (F ,’16) evened the game at three driving home a rebound. Brendan Cosgrove picked up his team leading sixth assist. Devin Albert (F, ’17) also added a helper.

The back and forth nature of the game continued with Parker called upon to make a big save of a blown clearing effort by Colby with 1:58 remaining.

With Colby pressuring for the winner Cosgrove overcommitted at his offensive blue line leading to a two-on-one break for the Corsairs. Dmitry Antipin (F, ’15) forced the Colby defender to commit to the open man and fired a shot from high in the slot past Parker. UMass took its third one goal lead of the game with just 1:21 remaining.

On the ensuing face-off Parker went to the bench once Colby won the draw. With the extra man Colby pressured hard. UMass had an opportunity to ice the game when they recovered the puck in the neutral zone but the shot—from about the center spot—rolled just wide. With 18.7 seconds on the clock UMD’s Restuccia was whistled for crosschecking.  With six skaters to UMD’s four defenders, Colby got the puck behind the net. Chwick brought it out to the goaltenders right and with two efforts got the puck in the net for his second goal of the day. Just 11.7 seconds remained in regulation.

After three, shots were 34 a piece. The scorebook shows Colby outshot UMD 4 to 2 in the overtime but neither team had any great chances.

The four teams travel down I-95 to do it again in Brunswick. Colby, now 2-2-2 (1-2-1 NESCAC), faces off with Suffolk (3-4-1) at 1:00 while the Polar Bears, now at 3-2-1 (1-2-1 NESCAC) reacquaint themselves with the Corsairs (2-5-1) in the 4:00 game.