NESCAC Semis: Bowdoin 5 Trinity 4

John McGinnis (20) celebrates one of his two goals 

Bowdoin  5
Trinity      4
FINAL Box Score 

Fifth seed Bowdoin held the nation's best power play to only one goal on seven chances to upset top seeded Trinity and advance to the NESCAC title tomorrow. They will play the 2012 NESCAC champion Lord Jeffs of Amherst in what promises to be a much more subdued atmosphere in Hartford, thanks to the elimination of Trinity.

The crowd today was listed officially as a 3,000 person sellout. That is a bit generous, but the building was pretty full and the Bantams student section vindicated the 350 person attendance figure against rival Wesleyan in the Quarterfinals (In the students defense, they had a long weekend).

The first period was marked by starts and stops from offsides and icing calls.  The only two penalties came in the first five minutes and against Trinity, who is usually the one taking the penalties, a stat category that they lead the 'Cac in this year.

The one goal of the period was a bit of a fluke. After a turnover in the neutral zone by Ryan Cole (F, '17), John McGinnis (F, '15) took a wrister from the point that trickled through Ben Coulthard (G, '14)'s five hole for the first goal of the game.

Things picked up considerably in the second with four goals between the two teams. Trinity tied the game 3:40 into the 2nd on a beauty of a short handed tally.  Joe Horak (F, '16) connected with Sean Orlando (F, '17) on a pretty pass into the neutral zone. Orlando then deked two defenders and beat Max Fenkell (G, '15) high blockerside.

Bowdoin would have none of it, as the Polar Bears responded on the same power play. Jay Livermore (D, '14) found Harry Matheson for the two goal lead one minute after the Bantam tally. The senior n now has 98 points, just two ticks away from the hallowed 100 point club. The Polar Bears would extend their lead four minutes later when Player to Watch McGinnis scored his second of the game on a wraparound.

Bowdoin would then get some luck for a three goal lead. Trinity's Mike Flynn (D,15) tried to handle a puck coming out of the Polar Bears zone, but he lost his edge, leading to a Chris Fenwick breakway goal, his second of the season. Fenwick was  a scratch last weekend.

Bowdoin let the top seeded Bantams back into it late in the period. Sam Johnson (D, '15) threw in a puck from the right blue-line that Joe Horak (F, '16) deflected in with 3:04 left in the period. A Matt Sullivan tripping call then setup one of the wilder goals you'll see all season. With 1.9 seconds left on the clock,  Ellie Vered (F, '16) won a face-off and shuffled the puck to Jim Burt (F, '16) for a laser that went top shelf with no time left. The goal was good and subsequent replays confirmed it.

Trinity came out firing on all cylinders after the momentum swing, but it was Bowdoin who would strike first in the third. McGinnis would take coast-to-coast for a wrap around that 2nd Team All-NESCAC forward Connor Quinn (F, '15)  put in at the 6:49 mark to make it 5-3.

The Bantams would continue to pepper Fenkell throughout the period, but the Colgate transfer was up to the task.  After Steve Messina (G, '14) got the last four starts of the year, it looked like coach Terry Meagher had locked Fenkell out of the rotation heading into the playoffs. But the junior from Meadowbrook, PA suited up against Middlebury last week and then got the start again today. He stopped 34 of 38 shots and made several key positional saves while screened. On the other end, former All-NESCAC goalie Coulthard was not as sharp. The senior from South Windsor, CT stopped 22 of 27 shots in his final NESCAC tournament game.

Bantam coach Matt Greason called a timeout with 1:36 left and pulled Coulthard shortly after. The Bantams top line failed to capitalize on the real man advantage, but were able to keep their hopes alive with the goalie pulled. Flynn, perhaps in a bit of redemption for his second period mis-step, kept a Bowdoin clear in the zone and found Ryan Cole (F, '17) for the fourth Bantam goal on the day.

Trinity was unable to get the final equalizer and the buzzer sounded with the defending NESCAC champion and fifth seeded Polar Bears advancing to the NESCAC title game.

The biggest surprise of the evening was the lack of production from the Bantams top power play unit. Trinity entered the game as the top power play in the country with an oer 30% success rate, but often spent a significant amount of their ample seven power play opportunities in the defensive zone. The one power play goal they did score came from the second unit.  Some of the credit has to be given to the Polar Bears for the Bantams' inefficinecy on the power player as players like freshman Jay Kourkoulis (D, '17) threw their bodies around to block and deflect Trinity shots.

Trinity now sits and plays the waiting game to see if they have a hsot at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bantams, who looked like a lock after clocking in as the top team in the East Region in each of the three public NCAA Regional rankings, will find out their fate Sunday night. If they had made the finals they were likely in, but now it is very much up in the air.