Bowdoin-Colby Faceoff, Day Two Recap

The Bowdoin-Colby Faceoff Classic is a four team Thanksgiving weekend event jointly hosted by Bowdoin and Colby. On Saturday, both games (Bowdoin/Suffolk and Colby/UMD) were played at Colby (recap), while on Sunday the two games (Colby/Suffolk and Bowdoin/UMD) were played at Bowdoin.

by Benet Pols 

Colby 6 Suffolk 3

Colby goaltender Ben Csiernik (G, '17) got his first start between the pipes for the Mules against the Suffolk University Rams; Csiernik’s day ended with a win and 22 saves. But the first year from Hamilton,Ontario didn’t have to wait long for his team to grab the lead. Ben Chwick (F ’14) put a second effort backhand behind Suffolk’s Brandon Smolarek ( G ,’16) with just 46 seconds gone in the first period. Colby had started the game with a power play when Suffolk was whistled for delay of game before the first face-off: an inauspicious start.

Colby dominated the rest of the period ending with an 11 to 6 shots on goal advantage but the scoreboard read 1-1. Suffolk’s Richard Woodworth (F ,’15) scored on a pretty three-on-two break with 2:17 still on the clock. Stanton Turner (F ‘17) went deep for Suffolk but just after dipping behind the net put the puck back out front leaving Woodworth alone in front. Csiernik, and the rest of the Colby defense, had gone looking for the wrap-around.

Bowdoin’s Sidney J. Watson Arena was quiet all afternoon with students just trickling back from Thanksgiving break and the unusual Sunday start times making it even quieter. The early game between the Mules and Rams saw mainly parents in the stands. Even so, the White Mules found some source of energy and came out hard in the second period. Nick Lanza (F, ’14), Tyler Lingel (F, ’16) and Jack Burton (D, ’17) all scored for Colby.

Lanza’s goal, his fourth of the young season, came off a great move out of the corner by line-mate Chwick. Chwick beat a man out of the corner, more drew coverage, and found Ray Zeek (F, ’15) in the high slot for a shot; Lanza picked up the rebound. Zeek and Chwcik were each credited with assists at 13:35.

A minute and 22 seconds later Lingel did it alone after recovering a loose puck on the right wing boards and moving in on Suffolk’s Smolarek. Lingel’s shot, pictured below, came from the bottom of the circle with little angle but beat Smolarek to the far side.

Suffolk’s Tim Sprague (F, ’15) answered back, rifling a shot from the left lane into the upper right hand corner of the net to beat Csiernik glove side. 8:20 remained in the period.

Jack Burton (D ,’17) closed out the scoring in period with 1:47 remaining on the clock. It was Burton’s first goal and Scott Fenwick (F, '17)’s first point as the freshman forward from New Brunswick picked up an assist on the play. The period ended with Colby holding a 4-2 lead and a 14-7 shots on goal advantage for the period.

The Rams managed to put together a sustained period of pressure to start the third period and nearly closed the gap with a back hand shot high off the post. But with Colby’s Jack Bartlett (F, ’14) holding the puck behind the Suffolk net, Colby opted for a line-change leaving Bartlett alone behind the net. Inexplicably the Rams didn’t pressure Bartlett and after some good work he found Burton in front. Burton rebounded his own shot with a backhand for his second marker of the afternoon and of the season. Colby led 5-2.

Suffolk’s third goal was just as nifty as its first two. Simon Leahy (F , ’17) fed Charlie McGinnis (F, '17) from behind the net for a one-touch top-shelf job. 11:29 remained but Suffolk would draw no closer. Ben Chwick finished the scoring with a late power play goal set up by Lanza and Cosgrove.

Csiernik finished the night with 22 saves for Colby, while Smolarek stopped 35 Colby shots. Suffolk was oh-for-four on the power play while Colby was two-for-six.

First year defender Jack Burton (St.Paul’s School) got in on the scoring tonight with his first two collegiate goals but as this season moves on it is more apparent that the scoring burden is falling on last year’s points leaders. The Mules, now 3-2-2 (1-2-1 NESCAC), have scored 22 goals in seven games, but half belong to the first line of Chwick (4-4-8), Lanza (4-3-7), and Zeek (3-4-7).

Bowdoin 5, UMass Dartmouth 1

Bowdoin, by contrast, has six players with three or more goals. And while Coach Blaise MacDonald has kept the Mules on fairly predictable lines, Bowdoin’s Coach Terry Meagher seems to never use the same combination of forwards for more than a single period. Sunday’s game saw three players: Ryan Carney (D ’13), Gabe Renaud (D, ’16) and Brendan Conroy (D , ’17), who’d been used only on the blue-line during the first six games, took regular shifts as forwards. One line, centered by junior Tim Coffey (F, '15) featured Renaud on the left and Carney on the right.

It didn’t seem to matter as Bowdoin jumped all over UMD with a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Matt Rubinoff (F , ’16) and Colin Downey (F , ’14). Rubinoff’s goal was very similar to one he scored the day before against Suffolk. In fairly close to the net, Rubinoff redirected a high Mitch Barrington (D, ’17) shot from the point with his stick about knee height. The goal came at the 4:30 mark. Johnny Malusa (D ,’16) also notched a helper.

Minutes later Bowdoin first year Matt Sullivan (D, '17) nearly netted his first goal as a Polar Bear clanging a vicious shot off the right post.

Pushing the lead to two, the Polar Bear’s point leader, Colin Downey (4-8-12), netted an artful goal as he sneaked behind a UMD defender clearing the zone. Downey lifted the UMD stick and turned alone to beat the Corsairs freshman goaltender through the five hole. In just his second start for the Corsairs, JJ Solloway (G, '17) has seen plenty of action. He faced 53 Bowdoin shots in this match; just a week ago he stopped 55 Babson shots in a 4-2 loss to the Beavers.

Bowdoin closed the first period with 15 shots to just five for UMD, but the Corsair’s Shaun Walters (F, '15) did test Bowdoin’s Steve Messina (G ’14). The junior from Michigan broke in alone on Messina and fired one into the pads, Walters got a second chance with the long rebound but Messina nabbed it with his catching glove to stop play and frustrate Walters.

UMD got one back early in the second when a bouncing puck mishandled behind the goal squirted out across the crease. The Corsairs Evangelos Stefanou (F ’16), standing at the edge of the crease pounded it home, but the rest of the perod was all Bowdoin. The Polar Bears unloaded another 20 shots on goal. Only one found the twine,though, when a late power play goal gave Bowdoin back its two goal cushion. Rubinoff scored his second of the night on a pretty Colin Downey feed across the low slot. Captain Harry Matheson (F, ’14) also garnered an assist.

The third period was no better for UMD. While the Corsairs held Bowdoin to just 17 shots they only managed to make Bowdoin’s goaltender handle the puck once. Solloway ended the game with 47 saves for UMD while Messina stopped 11 to earn the win for Bowdoin.

Connor Quinn (F, ’15) got his second goal in as many days stopping a sharp pass across the zone from Blake Cormier (D, ’16) with his skate to drill a one-timer home with 14:17 on the clock. Rounding out a player-of-the-game type night, Rubinoff fed John McGinnis (F ,’15) from behind the net to close the scoring. It’s not in the scorebook but Cormier deserved an assist on the McGinnis goal. The sophomore defender, playing up front for the day, ground down a couple of Corsairs along the boards before kicking the puck free to Rubinoff for the quick feed to McGinnis.

Bowdoin was one-for-four on the power play while UMD went oh-for-three.