Bowdoin buries Tufts with five second period goals

Bowdoin 8  Tufts 4

By Benet Pols

Bowdoin sophomore Matt Rubinoff (F, '16) will make a great hockey parent one day. The forward from Oakville, Ontario already knows John Buccigross’s 10th rule for hockey parents stone cold:

Teach your kids not to celebrate too much after a goal if your team is winning or losing by a lot. And by all means, tell them celebrate with the team. After they score, tell them not to skate away from their teammates like soccer players. Find the person who passed you the puck and tell him or her, "Great pass."

Don’t get me wrong. Rubinoff was happy to have netted Bowdoin’s eighth goal Saturday afternoon against Tufts, but he was pointing straight at John McGinnis (F, ’15), not banging his own chest. Rubinoff finished off McGinnis’s picture perfect behind the back set-up from behind the net to close out a crazy weekend in Maine.  Traveling partners Tufts and Connecticut College stunned the home teams Friday night and looked good for most of Saturday, too.

 Connecticut College beat Bowdoin Friday night 3-2 in overtime while Tufts ran away from Colby late to take a 5-2 win in Waterville. Neither result was expected as both the Camels and Jumbos came into the road weekend winless in NESCAC. Most observers expected four point weekends from both Bowdoin and Colby. With Bowdoin the preseason favorite to win the conference and Colby newly ascendant, bets were on goal totals for the teams from the Pine Tree State; no one expected them both to be grateful for any kind of win on Saturday.

It took overtime for Colby, a 4-3 winner over Connecticut College, and four lead changes before an ugly five goal second period allowed the Polar Bears a little breathing room, but both Bowdoin and Colby garnered a shade of redemption Saturday.

In Brunswick, Tufts set the tone almost midway through the first period when Brian Ouellette (F,‘16) with an assist from Mike Leary (F, ’17) opened the scoring. Bowdoin’s Co-Capt. Harry Matheson (F ,’14) evened things at 15:21 on a power-play goal. McGinnis assisted from behind the net.

“Behind the net” is a tag line that probably ought to be attached to every sentence written about the junior from Cocoa, Florida. Watson Arena has a lot of space behind the net and deep corners so its natural that a lot of plays develop there. Since Watson Arena opened in 2009, the Bowdoin offense has always used the corners--after rebounds, or when nothing develops in the lanes: it’s a great second avenue of attack. But McGinnis prefers being behind the net using the goal to shed defenders and block sight lines.

The second period --which would see a total of 8 goals and 33 shots put up by both teams--started off with Danny Palumbo (F ,’15) squeaking home a rebound off a scrum in front at 2:32. First year Zach Kokosa (F, '17), who plays a lot like Palumbo, and Alec Root (D,’16) each picked up their first assists of the season.

Tufts answered quickly to tie it and then took the lead with two goals just a minute and seven seconds apart. Tying the game was Patrick Lackey (F, ’17) with Leary picking up his second assist of the night; Derek Schartz (F, ’15) also helped out. Tufts took their last lead on a nice solo effort by Conal Lynch (F, ’17).

In the stands injured senior Kyle Lockwood (D/F, '14)  dispaired after Lynch’s go ahead goal but the Polar Bears ran off four unanswered goals bookended by a pair of goals by team leader in points (6-9-15) Colin Downey (F/D, '14). Downey’s first, which made the score 3-3, came off assists by McGinnis and Brendan Conroy (F/D ,’17). Just over a minute later on a scrappy effort, Tim Coffey (F, '15) netted his fifth goal of the season after coming around from behind the net in search of a rebound.

Senior Co-Capt and regular blue-liner Jay Livermore (D, '14), playing forward for likely the first time in at least two seasons, netted what proved to be the game winner (pictured) for the Polar Bears nearly midway through the period. Sensing an odd man advantage the senior accelerated down the slot, collected a pass from Matheson, turned it to his forehand and beat Tufts starting goaltender Ryan Kellenberger (G, ’17) stick side.

Downey’s second goal came three minutes later when the senior broke down the lane and put a high shot…we’re not really sure where he put it…but both he and the closest referee signaled goal. In a move reminiscent of  Matheson’s goal at Colby two weeks ago, the referees consulted long and hard before ruling the short handed effort a goal at 12:28 of the period.

Less that a minute later Kyle Gallegos (F, ’14) answered back for Tufts; a long, long scrum in front ended with Gallegos celebrating his team leading fifth goal of the season. Tyler Voigt (F, ’15) was credited with an assist.

With Bowdoin’s Matheson sitting for hitting after the whistle at 19:58 and 2.5 seconds showing on the clock, Tufts nearly drew to within one. A perfectly executed draw led to a booming shot from the point that screamed past Messina, but found just the far pipe before bouncing away as time expired.

The second period closed with the score Bowdoin 6 and Tufts 4. Shots on goal showed full game’s worth for both teams as Tufts led Bowdoin, 34 to 29. Messina’s 30 saves were nearly three times what he’d made in his last start against UMD, but neither goalie seemed over-worked.

Bowdoin managed to draw five penalties while the Jumbos were close behind with four. Tufts netted one power play goal while giving up a short-handed goal in what was an interesting but sloppy period.

McGinnis’ shorthanded goal at 5:45 of the third effectively ended things for the Jumbos. Crossing the blue line, McGinnis flipped the puck up to himself, using the bouncing puck as a ploy he shifted inside and with the defender as a screen let a shot go from 25 feet. Livermore and Blake Cormier (F/D, ’16) added assists.

With 12 goals scored a lot of players improved their season lines in Brunswick. McGinnis led Bowdoin scorers with a goal and three assists. Colin Downey scored twice and added an assist while Matheson, Rubinoff and Livermore each picked up two points. In a season characterized by line-up changes and injuries, Rubinoff has been a nice surprise for the Watson faithful; stepping in for the injured team leaders Ollie Koo & Kyle Lockwood he’s second on the team in goals with five and third in points at 5-4-9:

Messina ended the game with 43 saves while Ryan Kellenberger (G ’17) stopped 36 for Tufts. Bowdoin took 9 minor penalties while Tufts had 8. Bowdoin was 1 for 6 on the power play. Tufts weak 1 for 7 power play was exacerbated by the two shorthanded goals they gave up.

Bowdoin closes out December with an out-of-conference game at the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday. The USM Huskies play in the ECAC-E where they’re currently sixth in the ten-team field. Earlier this season, USM defeated UNE 4-1 and lost to Colby 5-2. Bowdoin took UNE 9-3 and split a pair with Colby winning 3-1 and losing 4-2 the following night.

Tufts is off until January 4^th when they take on Southern New Hampshire University in the Codfish Bowl.