BRUNSWICK

First-year Bowdoin College men’s ice hockey coach Jamie Dumont said the first weekend of the season would be crucial in determining what he has as a team. A two-game split gave him a glimpse, but with 15 total combined goals in the two games, a theme began to emerge.

That theme continued on Tuesday night at Sidney J. Watson Arena, when Dumont’s team absorbed a whopping 36 shots on goal but scored five times in a back-and-forth 5-3 win over the University of New England.

If anything is clear at this point in Bowdoin’s season, it’s that goals can be expected.

“Quick pace, absolutely,” Bowdoin forward Cody Todesco said. “It was definitely a little faster than when we played Middlebury on Saturday. It was a good-paced game.”

The scoring started almost immediately after an injury timeout 10 minutes into the first period, when Matt Lison fired high into the net from distance to give Bowdoin (2-1) a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, UNE’s (3-3-1) Samuel Michaud equalized on a power play and it was game on. Twenty-one shots in the first period set the tone for a wide-open game.

“They play a real high-tempo game,” Dumont said of UNE. “They really can transition very well. The biggest thing for us is we really wanted to make sure our positioning is sound. We wanted to have layers back. They can turn the volume up quickly and they did in the second period.”

Down 2-1, the Nor’easters shot out onto the ice in the second period and scored just 18 seconds in. Then it was Ian Rodden scoring again at the 8:19 mark and Bowdoin now faced a deficit.

“You don’t want to get in a shooting match with them,” Dumont said. “You want to really make sure they have to beat you three zones and make sure that we get pucks in and make life tough on them.”

Todesco did just that a minute later, taking advantage of a power play and equalizing on assists from Lison and Ricci. The sophomore finished with two goals and two assists on the night and is already well on pace to better his 12 goal, 12 assist campaign of 2015-2016.

The comeback was completed less than two minutes into the third period, when Ricci punched in a rebound through traffic to make the score 4-3.

“Put us on our heels a little bit,” Dumont said of the second period. “But we found a way. Erik Wurman played great in net and we got some key saves and we got some key goals by our guys.”

Wurman blocked 33 shots and came up large for Bowdoin in the last few minutes of the game. UNE pressed hard and nearly scored twice on a power play, but there was a wall in front of the net. The Polar Bears were in the penalty box for 22 total minutes and forced to defend deep for much of the game. Players were blocking the goal and flying in front of pucks all night.

During the final stand in the last two minutes, defenseman Jay Kourkoulis slid in front of Wurman and took a puck off the face mask.

“I think the biggest thing is blocked shots,” Todesco said. “We’ve had them all year. This game was huge. Kourkoulis took one off the face, I took one off the neck last week, it’s just part of our team now. We need guys sacrificing, getting the puck out of the zone, so it’s been huge.”

With 30 seconds to go, Todesco pulled a puck out of the air and shot on an empty net to ice the game. Before he was pulled, UNE goalie Joe Noonan made eight saves in each period.

As far as Bowdoin’s identity goes, Dumont starts with plays like Kourkoulis made.

“The biggest identity for me is guys putting their body on the line and blocking shots,” Dumont said. “We had a guy out there block a shot with his face at the end of the game. Our depth is so strong and we have really good balance amongst our forwards and D.

“We have a very competitive bunch that likes to compete. We talk about it all the time. Anybody comes on our home ice, they’re going to have to pay the price to beat us.”

The Polar Bears will be on home ice again on Saturday, when they host SUNY Genesco at 4 p.m. in the Colby- Bowdoin Face-off Classic. The program’s new era is off and running and Todesco, for one, is all in.

“It’s definitely been different,” he said. “Obviously, coach (Terry) Meagher was here for a long time, but Coach Dumont, I love him so far. I think the team loves him. He’s been huge for the team, very supportive of everyone. Whether you have a good game or bad game it’s just kind of short term memory, ready to go next game, next shift He’s been awesome so far.”

Bowdoin 5, UNE 3

At Watson Arena

First period — 1. (B) Matt Lison (Cody Todesco), 10:32; 2. (UNE) Samuel Michaud (Blaise Healy, Armand Uomoleale), 14:36; 3. (B) Thomas Dunleavy (Pat Geary), 16:31. Penalties — (B) Caleb Perez, holding, 1:13; (UNE) Bench, too many players, 4:06; (B) Jason Cahoon, boarding, 13:34; (B) Pat Geary, delay of game, 13:38. Second period — 4. (UNE) Armand Uomoleale (Samuel Michaud), 0:18; 5. (UNE) Ian Rodden (Samuel Michaud, Armand Uomoleale), 8:19; 6. (B) Cody Todesco (Matthew Lison, Austin Ricci). Penalties — (B) Kendall Culbertson, tripping, 6:14; (UNE) Ryan Burr, hooking, 8:48; (UNE) Jacob Pitzmaker, tripping, 14:18; (B) Pat Geary, game misconduct, 18:52; (B) Joseph Lace, boarding, 18:52. Third period — 7. (B) Austin Ricci (Cody Todesco, Matthew Lison), 1:37; 8. (B) Cody Todesco (Matthew Lison, Jay Kourkoulis), 19:30. Penalties — (B) Matthew Melanson, tripping, 3:53; (UNE) Tucker Ross, holding, 14:59. Shots on goal — (UNE) 11-15-10— 36; (B) 10-9-10—29 Saves — (UNE) Joe Noonan 25; (B) Erik Wurman 33. Power play — (UNE) 1-for-6; (B) 1- for-4. Records — Bowdoin 2-1, UNE 3-3-1. Up next for the Polar Bears — Saturday at home against SUNY Genesco, 4 p.m.