Box Score MALDEN - Brian Brown continued a great start to his freshman season by scoring with 1:35 left in overtime to lift the Tufts University Hockey team to a 4-3 NESCAC victory against 10th-ranked Bowdoin College Saturday afternoon at Valley Forum.
The win gave the Jumbos a sweep of their NESCAC weekend including a 4-1 win over Colby on Friday night. Brown had a goal and an assist on Friday and led Tufts with a goal and two assists today. The Jumbos improved to 4-4-1 overall and 2-3-1 NESCAC while winning for the fourth time in their last five games.
Bowdoin finished a winless weekend after last night's 3-1 loss at Connecticut College. The Polar Bears, who scored on Tufts with 6:30 remaining in the third period to send the game to overtime, dropped to 6-2-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference.
The third period and overtime saw dramatic momentum swings. Bowdoin had scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the third. However, the Jumbos netted back-to-back goals by junior tri-captain Stewart Bell and junior defenseman Brian Oullette 5:25 apart early in the third to put Tufts up 3-2.
Like Ouellette's goal which snuck through the five-hole though, Bowdoin's Jay Kourkoulis scored unexpectedly at 13:30 of the third to tie the score at 3-3. Polar Bear freshman Matthew Melanson was robbed on the doorstep by Tufts freshman goalie Ryan McConnell with 1:41 remaining in the third and the game went to overtime.
The Jumbos dominated the extra session, putting five shots on goal to none for Bowdoin. Brown ended it with his sixth goal of the season, giving Tufts their second win a row over the Polar Bears. The Jumbos had won the last meeting between the teams 4-3 in the 2013-14 Tufts finale.
McConnell was outstanding for most of the game, especially in the first when he stopped all 17 Bowdoin shots. Six of his saves came on three Bowdoin extra-man opportunties. Jumbo sophomore Matt Pugh would continue his productive start to 2014-15 when Brown set him up for an open-net goal at 11:33 of the first to give Tufts a 1-0 advantage.
In the second, Bowdoin capitalized on a Tufts turnover in their own end with freshman Matthew Lison taking the puck in and scoring unassisted at 4:15 to even the game at 1-1. The goal was his fifth. The Bears then added a power-play goal by senior Ryan Collier at 7:59 to take the 2-1 lead. Bowdoin killed three Tufts penalties and freshman goalie Peter Cronin stopped all 10 shots he faced in the middle stanza.
Pugh with a goal and an assist and senior Tyler Voigt with two assists joined Brown as multi-point scorers for Tufts. McConnell finished with 33 saves.
Cronin made 35 saves in the Bowdoin net as the Jumbos out-shot the Polar Bears 39-35.
Tufts breaks for exams and the holidays before returning to play in Oswego's Pathfinder Bank Classic January 2-3. Bowdoin plays Tuesday at Southern Maine.
#
