OSWEGO, N.Y. – Bowdoin got knocked out of the NCAA Division III men’s hockey tournament in the quarterfinals for the second straight year — and at the same venue.

Oswego State eliminated the Polar Bears with a 7-5 victory Saturday night at Oswego’s Campus Center Ice Arena.

The teams met in the same round of the tournament and in the same rink one year ago, but this game was much more competitive.

Oswego State built four one-goal leads in the first two periods, but the Polar Bears answered to tie the score each time. It was a distinct reversal of Oswego State’s 9-2 victory last year. The resilient Polar Bears were in this one until the closing minutes.

“Basically, that’s what got this team to this point,” Bowdoin Coach Terry Meagher said. “They were resilient, never gave up and had a quiet, calm, collected personality.

“I thought we were going to make a good run with three minutes to go. That’s what this team has been all year and that’s why it’s been an exciting run, a joyous run and a great year.”

The Polar Bears finished their season 19-8-1, and Oswego State (23-4-0) advanced to the Division III Frozen Four for the second straight year.

Brendan Reich scored a pair of first-period goals for Bowdoin, Jeff Fanning added a power-play goal in the second and Harry Matheson scored two goals in the third period. Freshman goalie Steve Messina finished with 41 saves.

Both of Reich’s goals were tap-ins from close range. He was at the back post for a cross-crease pass from Bryan Rosata at 10:44 of the first period and was in a nearly identical position with 59 seconds remaining in the first to deflect a long pass from the right point past Lakers goalie Paul Beckwith.

“One of the mottoes for our team going into the playoffs was to get pucks to the net, get to the dirty areas and chip away at the goalie,” Reich said.

“The first two goals I was kind of buzzing around the net waiting for a pass and Bryan Rosata found me twice. That’s just sticking to our strategy to get it to the net and try to find a way to put it in the back of the net.”

Rosata had the primary assist on the first two Bowdoin goals and also scored a key tying goal in Wednesday’s first-round win over Neumann. He entered the NCAA playoffs with just three points for the season, and matched that total in two national tournament games.

Matheson scored on a wrist shot from the high slot that snuck through Beckwith’s pads 1:50 into the third period and tied the game for the final time.

The last go-ahead goal came from Oswego State’s David Titanic with 14:22 remaining in the third and gave the Lakers a 5-4 lead.

The Polar Bears killed off two penalties midway through the third period to keep the deficit at one, including 53 seconds of a five-on-three advantage for the Lakers, but Oswego’s Owen Kelly scored 35 seconds after those penalties expired to give Oswego a 6-4 lead. It was the first two-goal lead of the game.

Matheson scored on a backhander from the right-wing circle with 4:05 left to pull Bowdoin back to within one at 6-5, but the Lakers answered with a goal 35 seconds later to re-establish the two-goal margin.

A major penalty against the Polar Bears with two minutes left in the third ended any real hopes for another comeback in the waning minutes.