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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - The Williams College
men's ice hockey (5-8-1) surrendered three goals in the
second period, en route to an 8-1 defeat at the hands of
NESCAC power Bowdoin (10-3) Saturday. The Ephs badly needed the
win, but ended up only being competitive for a period, as
Bowdoin's big second period proved to be too much. The Ephs
finish the weekend 0-2 (Friday they fell to Colby 7-5), and stretch
their losing streak to three games - nullifying their previous
win-streak of three games that immediately preceded the teams
recent rough patch.
The first period began with a bang as both teams traded goals in
the games opening five minutes. Bowdoin struck first when Colin
MacCormick converted a Mike Collins pass only 4:17 into the period.
The Ephs evened things back up 43 seconds later when Brett
Haraguchi recorded his team's lone goal of the contest. The
Ephs kept up the pressure throughout in the middle part of the
period and succeeded in forcing the majority of the play onto Polar
Bear ice. However, despite near misses from Alex Smigelski and Matt
Masucci, the Ephs were unable to capitalize on their chances.
The Polar Bears battled back late in the period and netted a goal
with only 1:40 remaining when Mike Corbelle beat the Eph defense
unassisted. Neither team really threatened for the rest of the
period, and the Ephs went into the first intermission down 2-1.
The second period began with another early Bowdoin goal. This time
3:31 into the period when, in a reversal of the games first goal,
Mike MacCormick corralled a loose puck behind the Eph net and then
fed it to a streaking Mike Collins who pushed it in between Eph
goal tender Rick Redmond's (23 saves) legs to make it 3-1.
The Ephs dodged a bullet only 1:42 later when
another apparent Bowdoin goal was narrowly avoided when Corbelle
slaps-shot from the right side ricocheted off of the crossbar.
However, the Polar Bears refused to be denied and made good three
minutes later, when Ryan Leary exploited the power play and tapped
in a short pass from Ryan Blossom, ballooning the Eph deficit to
three goals at 4-1.
Redmond, making only his second start of the season, received
little help in the second period as the Eph defense struggled to
control a Polar Bear offense that appeared to be everywhere at once
- especially around the Williams net. Redmond would surrender
another goal before giving way to Marc Pulde (17 saves) with 7:24
remaining in the second period.
Pulde responded to the opportunity and was a big reason why the
Ephs were able to stop the bleeding in the later portion of the
second period. However, despite blunting the Bowdoin attack, the
Ephs still could generate little offense and ended the period down
5-1.
Unfortunately for the Ephs, the beginning of the third period
began with another Bowdoin goal – again from MacCormick and
Collins, with MacCormick finishing off a Collins pass only 3:10
into the final period. Bowdoin would add an additional two goals in
the next 13 minutes of the contest, pushing their advantage to
seven goals.
Despite being down 8-1, the Ephs did manage to balance out play
for the remainder of the third period, as the contest settled into
a contested series of runs and counter runs. However, thanks to the
stellar performance of Bowdoin goaltender Paul Decoster (32 saves),
the Polar Bears were able to keep the Ephs out of the net and
preserve the victory at 8-1.
”Every team goes through something, and we seem to be going
through ours right now.” Remarked Eph coach Bill Kangas,
“Bowdoin is a great team that took advantage of their
opportunities, we just need to keep playing and getting
better.”
The Ephs begin the first leg of their four
game road trip next Friday the 25th against New England
College.
