BIDDEFORD — There will be more hockey of the best variety, March hockey, for Colby College.
Six days after winning the first conference championship in program history, the Mules rebounded from a pair of early deficits, scoring three straight goals to upset seventh-ranked University of New England 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament Saturday night.
Colby, which extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2), will play at No. 3 SUNY Geneseo at 7 p.m. Saturday in the quarterfinals.
“It’s just about confidence,” said Colby goalie Sean Lawrence, who posted his eighth straight start with 30 or more saves. “We know we’re a good hockey team. Other people might not think we are just because of our record (16-10-2) but we know what we can do. We kept it even (keel) throughout the whole game.”
Kienan Scott scored twice for the Mules and Lawrence had 33 saves. Michael Rudolf and Joe Schuler also had goals for Colby.
UNE (20-6-3) led 1-0 in the first period and 2-1 in the second on goals by Ryan Bloom and Liam Neuman.
Colby made it 2-2 on Rudolf’s power-play goal midway through the second and Scott scored a short-handed goal late in the period to make it 3-2. The win avenged two lopsided regular-season losses to UNE.
“You’ve got to play on your toes all the time against them,” Colby Coach Blaise MacDonald said. “We started handing off good shifts (in the second period), and the momentum switched a little. We felt good about our efforts.”
Scott’s short-handed goal capped a dominant second period for the Mules.
A faceoff in the UNE zone went to the right wing corner, where Nick O’Connor centered in front for Scott, who swatted it home.
“It was really cool to score that goal,” Scott said. “(O’Connor) got the puck and I started yelling for it and he found me. Instinct took over and I shot it, and I guess it went in.”
The goal came seconds after Justin Grillo sprung Scott in alone on UNE goalie Tate Sproxton (26 saves), nearly beating him five-hole with a deke at the top of the crease.
“Our transition to defense wasn’t very good at all tonight,” UNE Coach Kevin Swallow said. “I think that was the difference in the game. … We knew that was their game, we knew they were a quick transition team. We just didn’t execute at all.”
The Nor’easters entered with the nation’s best power play but the battle of the special teams units went to Colby.
“A tie game, we’re on the power play, we’ve got to like our chances,” Swallow said. “I thought we were in a good position there to grab the lead. For (Scott) to score was definitely a back-breaker. You could see it on the bench, and you could see it in the guys’ body language as they came back to the bench.”
Colby blocked 24 shots, matching its total in the NESCAC championship game, but none was bigger than Griffin Fadden’s during a late UNE power play.
Fadden dove headfirst in front of a Ryan Burr blast from the point, knocking out one of his lower teeth and leaving a large dent in the lower half of his protective facemask.
“He couldn’t find his tooth but he kept playing,” MacDonald said.
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