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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The first ever NESCAC
tournament meeting between Williams and Bowdoin was nothing short
of a stunning contest, as the game went into overtime,
where sophomore forward Connor Olvany lifted a deflected
shot into a wide-open goal to launch the Ephs into the semifinals
of the NESCAC tournament with a 3-2 victory.
Bowdoin finishes their '08-'09 season with a 11-12-2 overall
record while the Ephs, now 15-8-2, will play No. 2-seeded
Middlebury at Amherst this Friday.
Not only had Williams lost their only meeting against Bowdoin
this season 8-3, but they were also entering the tournament after
losing both their games last weekend for the first time all year
against Hamilton and Amherst.
"We were coming off a weekend in which we were outscored 9-0 in
the third period," recalled head coach Bill Kangas. "Usually
we're not a team that does that so that was something we
talked about a lot during the week and I think it was evident
today.... It's a 24-game season with a lot of highs and lows
and you have to learn from your mistakes if you want to keep
getting better and beat the better teams."
The scoring began early in the first period, when at 3:40
Bowdoin forward Colin MacCormack took a pass from senior
forward/defenseman Matt Smith and flung it past Eph freshman
goaltender Ryan Purdy for his 8th on the year. The early goal
did little to shake the nerves of the rookie, as Purdy would stop
the rest of the 15 shots he faced in the opening twenty minutes.
Williams responded to the stellar play of their netminder by
mounting some offensive pressure later in the period. They
were able to breakthrough at 13:18 sophomore forward Ryan Young
gathered a loose puck and sniped it over the shoulder of Polar Bear
goalie Chris Rossi for his 9th this season, tying the score at
1. Senior forward Brett Haraguchi started the play by
stickhandling from the Eph blue line, past several swarming
Bowdoin skaters, and into the Polar Bear zone. Freshman
defenseman Justin Troiani also assisted on the goal.
"We went down early, but we hung in there," said Kangas.
"We didn't come out of the shoot as strong as we would have liked,
but we picked up our intensity in the middle period and we got
better as the game went on."
Indeed, Williams came out of the gate skating with purpose and
speed in the second, putting Rossi to the test early and
often. Bowdoin regained some momentum after a few minutes,
eventually missing a wide-open net on a rebound chance that caught
Purdy out of position. But once again the young Eph netminder
regained his composure and stopped all 20 Polar Bear attempts in
the period.
"Ryan made a number of big saves to calm us down when we needed
him to," acknowledged Kangas. "Bowdoin is a great team and
they come at you in so many ways...quick forwards and quick
defensemen.... Ryan and our defense really handled it well."
The Ephs would take the lead in the second at 13:37, when
Troiani centered the puck from behind the Bowdoin net to senior
forward Matt Draheim. The veteran waited patiently,
skated to the open spot, and ripped a wrister over a baited Rossi
for his 9th goal, giving Williams a one-goal edge. Olvany
earned an assist on the score.
The Ephs started the final frame down a man. Although they
successfully killed this first penalty, they were unable to kill a
second Bowdoin man-advantge just minutes later, as MacCormack
slapped home a one-time feed from freshman forward/defenseman
Graham Sisson for his 2nd winner of the afternoon, knotting the
score at 2 with 14:50 left in regulation.
It seemed that Williams had been given a tremendous gift with
6:33 left, when Bowdoin received a five-minute major penalty for
hitting from behind. The Polar Bears held their ground,
however, and killed off the entire penalty, escaping a near
game-ender by an unguarded Matt Draheim. The Eph forward
found a loose puck in front of the net and made a strong move, but
was stopped by Rossi's right pad.
The match went into overtime, and right from the start of the
period the Ephs began to threaten for the win. Haraguchi just
missed delivering the final blow druing a power-play on a back-door
set-up from the point. A few minutes later, a deflection try
just skidded wide of an open Bowdoin net, drawing a tense gasp from
the home crowd.
Finally, at 9:10 in the overtime period, sophomore forward Matt
Masucci took the puck out from behind the net and tried a
forehanded wrap-around. His shot was knocked down by a Polar
Bear defender, but the loose puck came right to Olvany at the side
of the net, who guided it into the open net for the deciding
score. The Eph bench cleared in wild celebration of their
first playoff win in over ten years.
"This was a big team win as it was our first playoff victory in
a long time," remarked Kangas. "It was a great team effort
that really paid tribute to all the hard work we put into practice
this past week. Our seniors played sensational games and
contributed in so many ways to this win."
The Ephs will face conference powerhouse Middlebury this Friday
at Amherst at 4 p.m. The two teams tied earlier this season, 4-4
and it should prove to be another close match.
-- Daniel Pesquera, Staff Assistant and Contributor
