BRUNSWICK, ME -- Bowdoin College (9-4-2) scored three goals in the third period to pull away from the Williams College Men's Hockey team (9-2-4) and hand them their second loss of the season.
With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the third period, Bowdoin's Graham Sisson and Timothy McGarry scored back-to-back goals to give the Polar Bears a 3-1 advantage.
Craig Kitto '15 countered with a goal of his own to narrow the deficit to 3-2, but Bowdoin's Harry Matheson added an empty-net goal with six seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.
With the win, Bowdoin moves into second place in the NESCAC standings with a 7-2-2 conference record. Williams now stands in third place behind Amherst and Bowdoin at 6-2-1 in the conference.
The Polar Bears came out strong in the first period, flexing their offensive muscle with 14 shots on Eph goaltender Ryan Purdy '12.
Following a Williams penalty, Bowdoin got on the board first at about the nine-minute mark with a power play goal from sophomore Ollie Koo. After a flurry of Bowdoin shots, Koo corralled the rebounding puck on the left side of the net and flicked it in to put the Polar Bears up 1-0.
The Ephs responded strongly near the end of the period by increasing their own offensive attack. With less than thirty seconds remaining, their efforts paid off when a Nick Anderson '14 slap shot from the blue line found the net to tie the score at 1-1. Finding Anderson on the assist was defenseman David Jarrett '15.
The second period produced a number of scoring chances for both sides, but no goals to show for it. Bowdoin's power play unit, ranked third in the NESCAC, took advantage of Williams' three penalties in the second frame and created several opportunities to score, but Purdy shut the door with several key stops.
Purdy finished the night with 35 saves on 39 shots in 58:53 minutes of play. Bowdoin netminder Steve Messina tallied 23 saves on 25 shots in 60 minutes of play.
The Ephs got two power play chances of their own midway through the period but were also unable to capitalize. The Polar Bears outshot Williams 15 to 7 in the period, but the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the final twenty minutes.
After another Williams penalty four minutes into the third period, Bowdoin capitalized with its second power play goal of the night off the stick of Sisson, who snuck the puck by Purdy in front of the net to give the Polar Bears the 2-1 lead. Freshman forward John McGinnis added the assist.
McGarry's goal with eight minutes remaining widened the gap to 3-1, as the junior defenseman fired a slapshot by Purdy off a nice feed from Koo.
Thirty seconds later, Kitto closed the deficit to 3-2 when he squeaked the puck past Messina's right pad. Assisting Kitto were Justin Troiani '12 and Anderson, who added his second point of the night.
The Ephs fought hard to knot the score and received a late five-on-four advantage when head coach Bill Kangas pulled Purdy from net after a pair of offsetting penalties. The Polar Bears broke free with less than ten seconds to go, however, and forward Harry Matheson deposited the empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win.
Coach Kangas noted his team's resiliency late in the game but remarked that the Ephs just didn't do enough to knot the score in the final period.
"Going into the third period, we were down 3-1 and we found a way to get back to 3-2," said Kangas. "We had opportunities to tie the game but pucks missed the net; we just didn't have the puck luck to get to 3-3."
"We weren't able to execute the opportunities that we had, and [Bowdoin] did," added Kangas. "But we don't have much time to think about it because now we get ready for tomorrow and Colby's game."
The Ephs will continue their tour of Maine on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Colby to take on the Mules (3-12-1) in another NESCAC matchup. Game time is 3 PM.
