BRUNSWICK

Sometimes in hockey, a line forechecks feverishly before ending a shift with little to show for it. Then the next line jumps over the boards and reaps the benefits of that hard work by putting the puck in the net.

This was never more evident than during Friday’s night New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s hockey battle between arch-rivals Bowdoin and Colby at Sidney J. Watson Arena.

Bowdoin forward Robert Toczylowski scored a pair of goals, leading to a 3-1 Polar Bears victory in the first of a weekend home-and-home series.

With Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Mules, the Polar Bears lead the all-time series at 105-87-8.

Toczylowski was awarded the Peter Schuh Memorial Trophy as the game’s Most Valuable Player, but he was quick to deflect the praise to his teammates.

“They could have given that award to the entire team tonight,” said the senior forward. “This is the best game all year. There is something special about the crowd, the students who pack into the building. It was a great night.”

“It is great for these kids to have this experience,” said Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher. “It was packed and loud tonight, and the nerves set in. Colby is a tough team in the neutral zone, and we knew it was going to be a difficult game.”

Two quick ones

Bowdoin netminder Steve Messina made a big glove save on a shot by Colby’s Tyler Lingel to keep the game scoreless through the opening 15 minutes.

The Polar Bears found their legs from there, outshooting the Mules 12-6 in the opening frame and scoring a pair of goals just 1:44 apart.

The line of Danny Palumbo, Connor Quinn and John McGinnis did the grunt work, keeping the Mules pinned in their zone and forcing Colby netminder Jordan Nathan to freeze the puck and try to slow the Polar Bears down.

There was none of that. Meagher’s next line of Kyle Lockwood, Rob MacGregor and Toczylowski continued the work, with MacGregor diving to keep the play alive and Toczylowski beating Nathan for a 1-0 lead at 16:36.

Moments later, senior Daniel Weiniger took a lead pass from Tim McGarry, danced around a Colby defender and pocketed a shot in the top corner of the cage for a 2-0 Bowdoin lead through 20 minutes.

“We started fast, and we were able to forecheck in Colby’s zone, and that led to a lot of chances for us,” said Toczylowski.

Colby bounced back in the second period, getting a goal at 4:09 of the frame. Nick Lanza took a cross-ice pass from Cory McGrath and slipped the puck underneath the dive of Messina to cut the Bowdoin advantage in half.

The Polar Bears began forechecking again and outshot Colby 13-5 in the period, but Nathan made all the saves, including a post-to-post stop on McGinnis at the buzzer, keeping the Mules just one goal down despite being outshot 25-11 through 40 minutes.

Toczylowski sent the Bowdoin faithful into a frenzy just 1:50 into the third period. He received a pass from Ryan Collier and calmly went backhand to forehand before slipping a shot past Nathan for a 3-1 Polar Bears lead.

“I thought the five guys who didn’t score before I got on the ice did more work than me,” said Toczylowski of Weiniger, Colin Downey and Ollie Koo, who again pinned the Mules in before Toczylowski reaped the benefits. “That third goal allowed us to relax a little and play our game.”

Colby managed to fire 11 shots on Messina in the third, including one each from Ben Chwick and Michael Smigelski with Nathan pulled for an extra skater. Messina finished with 21 saves, while Nathan turned away 26 shots.

Neither team scored on the power play, with Bowdoin failing on four chances and the Mules three.

BOWDOIN 5

COLBY 2

On Saturday, Bowdoin used oustanding special teams play to roll to a 5-2 win in its 200th meeting with Colby at Alfond Rink.

Five different players scored for the eighth-ranked Polar Bears (6-0-1, 3-0-1 NESCAC), who put home three power play and one short-handed goal on the night. Bowdoin is off to its best start since the 2002-03 campaign when it opened with a 7-0-0 mark. Colby fell to 1-6-0 (0-4-1 NESCAC) with the loss.

In the longest-running small-college hockey rivalry, the Polar Bears now hold a 105-87-8 lead and have claimed seven of the last eight games between the schools. Bowdoin has also won three straight in Waterville for the first time since 2003-05.

The teams traded power play goals in a fast-paced opening period. Harry Matheson got things going on the power play for Bowdoin, notching his third goal of the season just three minutes in. Ray Zeek replied with a power play goal at the 9:44 mark of the first period for Colby before Bowdoin’s Weiniger banged home his fifth tally of the year with the extra man at 13:29.

A shorthanded goal by Mac- Gregor just 55 seconds into the second period pushed Bowdoin’s lead to 4-2 but Matt Gelnaw was able to get it back eight minutes later for Colby, cutting the lead to 4-2 after two frames.

Bowdoin put the game away with a pair of thirdperiod scores. Quinn notched his fourth goal of the season at 6:15 andLockwood put home a power play chance at 10:04 to close out the win.

Max Fenkell made 19 saves for Bowdoin, which held a 30- 21 advantage in shots. Jordan Nathan made 25 saves for the Mules. The Polar Bears finished 3-for-5 on the power play for the night. McGarry and Downey had two assists apiece in the winning effort.

The Polar Bears will look to continue their hot start when they take to the road next week, returning to action at Southern Maine on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Bowdoin 3, Colby 1

Friday, at Sidney J. Watson Arena
Colby —010—1
Bowdoin—201—3
First period — 1. (B) Robert Toczylowski 4 (Rob MacGregor, Kyle Lockwood), 16:36; 2. (B) Daniel Weiniger 4
(Tim McGarry). Penalties — (C) Chris
Kennedy, tripping, 4:34; (B) Tim
McGarry, boarding, 5:28; (C) Jack
Bartlett, hooking, 5:55.
Second period — 3. (C) Nick Lanza 6
(Cory McGrath), 4:09. Penalties — (C)
Nick Trepp, tripping, 13:18; (B) Bench,
too man men, 15:37; (C) Jonathan
Sdao, hooking, 19:04.
Third period — 4. (B) Robert Toczylowski 5 (Ryan Collier), 1:50. Penalties
— (B) Ryan Carney, interference, 6:39;
(B) Ryan Carney, hooking, 15:24.
Shots on goal — (C) 6-5-11—22; (B)
12-13-5—30
Saves — (C) Jordan Nathan 26, Matt
Delaney 1; (B) Steve Messina 21.
Power play — Colby 0-3; Bowdoin 0-
4.
Next — The Polar Bears visit the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday
at 7 p.m.

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