BRUNSWICK

At the 6:21 mark in the second period of Saturday’s New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s hockey game between Bowdoin and Amherst, the Polar Bears held a 3-0 lead. An 11th straight unbeaten game looked like nothing short of a lock.

Even after a response from the Lord Jeffs, third-seeded Bowdoin held a 4-2 lead heading into the final period.

No one at Sidney J. Watson Arena expected what happened next.

Amherst used an early power-play score to spark a six-goal onslaught that happened in the blink of an eye and ended Bowdoin’s season in shocking fashion.

The visitors and No. 6- seeded Jeffs went on to win 8-5 and moved on to the NESCAC semifinals.

“All credit to Amherst,” said Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher, who coached his final game at Bowdoin after 33 years in the position. “They did what they had to do. They started shooting at the net and they made some nice tips. Some nice plays. I think the game had a lot of flow to it. There were surges by both teams. It’s one of those, hard to explain.”

Amherst’s (10-11-4, 8-8-3 NESCAC) first goal of the period was quickly countered by Bowdoin (13-8-4, 9-6- 4 NESCAC) freshman Austin Ricci, who took a shot and got a fortunate bounce off Dave Cunningham’s stick in net, but the Lord Jeffs were just getting started.

A mere 30 seconds after Ricci’s strike, Austin Ho of Amherst fired right back to make the score 5-4. Less than three minutes later, it was Chris Roll with an equalizing shot past Peter Cronin in goal, and then Ho again with the eventual game-winning goal at the 7:13 mark. In less than 13 minutes, Bowdoin’s two-goal lead had completely evaporated, and the Polar Bears were clinging to life.

“I think we played pretty well,” Meagher said. “ I kind of had a feeling something was in the air. Two teams that don’t score easily playing each other and I did say it’ll probably be a 9-8 game. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

In all, Amherst fired 12 shots in the third period and saw half of them go in. Cronin, who finished with 31 saves, had blocked 25-of-27 attempts up to that point. David White scored a half-ice breakaway goal for the Lord Jeffs to make it 7-5 at the 15:31 mark, and the game’s last score was an empty-netter with just 36 seconds left on the clock.

“I think we just got some unlucky bounces,” Bowdoin defenseman Mitch Barrington said. “Both of us were throwing pucks to the net, some of ours went in, and then they just had some more get through. We had a two-goal lead most of the game and we just failed to get that third goal and put it out of reach for them.”

“I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, the way that puck moves around and bouncing and hitting people,” Meagher said. “It’s amazing that these goaltenders are as good as they are.”

Dominant Bowdoin start

After Cunningham and the Amherst defense fended off early pressure from the hosts, the Polar Bears opened the scoring midway through the first period. Cody Todesco slid a puck across the face of net for Camil Blanchet, who punched it in for the 1-0 lead. Then, with less than a minute to go in the opening period, Matthew Lison took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play and blasted a shot from the right circle in past Cunningham to give Bowdoin a 2-0 edge heading into the first intermission.

The Amherst netminder finished with 27 saves after allowing the two first-period goals. The Polar Bears’ third goal came from Ricci at the 6:21 mark, just after killing off a power play. The freshman wristed one high and right into Cunningham’s net after receiving a pass from Brendan Conroy, and gave the home side a 3-0 lead.

Cronin came up big for Bowdoin in the opening period, glove-saving Amherst’s first shot of the game on a breakaway and stopping a crucial powerplay shot with 6:13 left to go. Two more big glove saves kept the Lord Jeffs off the scoreboard until Brendan Burke snuck the puck past Cronin from the left circle at the 8:34 mark of the middle frame. Four minutes later, Conor Brown scored after a deflection lifted the puck over Cronin’s pad and into the net to cut the Polar Bears lead to 3-2.

Todesco got a lucky ricochet of his own at the 14:51 mark that flew into the net and calmed Bowdoin down with a 4-2 lead.

“Me and Foster (Sebastian, who assisted Ricci’s second goal of the game that moved the score to 5-3) were just telling ourselves let’s get out there and get one back,” Ricci said. “Let’s get this game back in our hands. We went out there, got a lucky bounce that popped in, but that’s not enough in this league. We’ve got to get another one and keep playing. It’s never going to last.”

Turning point

A hooking penalty in the final second of the period proved crucial for the Polar Bears, and the turning point came very early in the final frame. Meagher said it was hard for his team go into the locker room knowing they had to come back out and kill a power play in the opening couple of minutes. He said Amherst did exactly what it needed to do to get back into the game.

“That was a key,” Meagher said of the Patrick Arena score that brought Amherst within a goal. “Right then, you could say ‘well it’s going to be one of those nights.’ Sometimes these games take on their own momentum. They’re hard to control and hard to explain. But the team that beat us deserved to win. They got more in the 6-by-4 than we did.”

Saturday’s loss is Bowdoin’s first since Jan. 16 when it fell, 3-1 at Trinity. With the exception of last Friday’s 4-4 overtime tie with Tufts, the Polar Bears had won all their games, outscoring opponents 38-18 during the span. For Meagher and seniors Johnny Malusa, Matt Rubinoff and Chris Fenwick, it’s a tough way for things to end.

“We’re sticking with each other and feeling for our three seniors,” Barrington said. “We’re a close group and we’ll stick together and pull each other through it. It’s a tough time, but we’ll make it through and come back stronger next year.”

“When you take stock of the whole year, I’m pretty proud of this group,” Meagher said. “They played their hearts out and they played their hearts out again tonight. It’s sad for the seniors who gave so much and all good things must come to an end. But I’m really excited that this group knows what it takes to win, knows what it takes to be successful in this league. The majority of them are back, and I think their future is bright.”

No. 6 Amherst 8,
No. 3 Bowdoin 5

Saturday, at Sidney J. Watson Arena
Amherst—026— 8
Bowdoin —221—5
First period — 1. (B) Camil Blanchet
(Cody Todesco, Matt Sullivan), 10:57;
2. (B) Matthew Lison (Daniel McMullan, Matt Sullivan), ppg, 19:12. Penalties — (B) Chris Fenwick, boarding,
12:04; (A) Bench, elbowing, 17:32;
(A) Kevin Ryder, cross-checking,
17:53.
Second period — 3. (B) Austin Ricci
(Brendan Conroy), 6:21; 4. (A) Brendan Burke (Chris Roll), 8:34; 5. (A)
Conor Brown (Phil Johansson),
12:35; 6. (B) Cody Todesco (Jay
Kourkoulis, Matt Sullivan), 14:51.
Penalties — (B) Matthew Lison, tripping, 3:54; (B) Chris Wallace, hooking, 20:00.
Third period — 7. (A) Patrick Arena,
ppg, 1:41; 8. (B) Austin Ricci (Sebastian Foster), 1:48; 9. (A) Austin Ho,
2:22; 10. (A) Chris Roll, 4:53; 11. (A)
Austin Ho (Brendan Burke), 7:13; 12.
(A) David White, 15:31; 13. (A) Will
Vosejpka, empty net 19:24.
Shots on goal — (A) 15-12-12 —
39; (B) 14-10-8 — 32.
Saves — (A) Dave Cunningham 27;
(B) Peter Cronin 31.
Power play — (A) 1-for-3; (B) 1-for-
2.
Note — Bowdoin’s season is over.