MALDEN - The Tufts hockey team shocked the Polar Bears in their season finale by scoring two consecutive goals in the third period to pull off a 4-3 upset on Seniors Day at Valley Forum Saturday afternoon.
On a day that began with the team honoring its eight seniors, Tufts trailed Bowdoin with just 10 minutes remaining in the third period. The Jumbos finished their season in style however, as sophomore defenseman Brian Oullete tied the score at the 9:19 minute mark and sophomore forward Stewart Bell deposited the go-ahead goal with 5:41 remaining to pull off the Jumbos' comeback win.
Tufts ends its 2013-2014 campaign with a 4-19-1 record (2-15-1 NESCAC), while Bowdoin enters the NESCAC playoffs with a 14-8-2 record (9-8-1 NESCAC).
Bowdoin wasted little time in the opening minutes, taking a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into action on a goal from freshman defenseman Mitch Barrington. He took a feed in the slot from senior forward Colin Downey and maneuvered around a pair of Tufts defenders in front of the net before flipping a wrist shot into the right side of the goal to give the Polar Bears the early advantage.
The Jumbos fought back after the early goal however, and caught a break at the 13:52 mark of the first period to knot the score at 1-1. Junior forward Tyler Voigt fired a shot from the right circle that was initially stopped by Bowdoin goaltender Steve Messina, but the puck squirted free from under his pads. When a rush of players crashing to the net knocked Messina to the ice, senior forward Kyle Gallegos was able to corral the loose puck and tap it in for the score.
The goal was the 10th of the season for Gallegos, who led the team in goals scored in his final season with the Jumbos.
The Bowdoin offense turned up the heat near the end of the first period with a flurry of shots on Tufts goaltender Greg Jenkins, but Jenkins turned them away to keep the score tied at 1-1 after one period of action. The Polar Bears outshot the Jumbos 22 to 10 in the period.
A pair of matching penalties six minutes into the second period led to two minutes of four-on-four action that the Polar Bears capitalized on with a goal from senior forward Kyle Lockwood at the 12:39 mark. Junior forward Ryan Collier started the chance by finding Barrington on the right side of the offensive zone. Barrington fired a sharp cross-ice pass to a waiting Lockwood, who blasted a slap shot in from the left side to put Bowdoin ahead 2-1.
Just as they had in the first period though, the Jumbos wasted little time in responding, knotting the score at 2-2 with a goal from freshman forward Patrick Lackey with 11:29 remaining in the period. After the Tufts forecheck worked hard to keep the puck in the zone, senior forward Tim Mitropolous found Lackey in front of the net and he jammed it home to even the score.
Bowdoin put the pressure on the Tufts defense late in the second period, but Jenkins was up to the task again to deny any scoring chances and send the two teams into the final period locked in a 2-2 tie.
The third period followed a similar pattern to the previous two, as both teams traded scores about midway through the frame. The Polar Bears gained the lead once again at the 10:40 mark on a great individual effort by junior forward John McGinnis. He entered the offensive zone near the right boards, weaved around several Tufts defenders and lifted a wrist shot from the left circle into the top right corner of the net to put his team up 3-2.
After McGinnis' goal though, it was all Jumbos. Less than two minutes later, Bell pounced on an unsuccessful clearing attempt by the Bowdoin defense and fired a shot on net. Messina made the initial save, but Oullette corralled the rebound with 9:19 remaining to tie the score at 3-3.
The Jumbos finally broke the back-and-forth affair by taking their first lead of the night on a blast from the blue line from Bell with 5:41 remaining. After Jenkins made a solid pad save to thwart a 3-on-2 rush from Bowdoin, freshman forward Matt Pugh found Bell in the neutral zone, and Bell's shot sailed between Messina's legs to give the Jumbos their first lead of the afternoon.
It was a lead that Tufts would not relinquish, as Jenkins and the defense held on for a 4-3 victory despite a number of late chances after Bowdoin pulled its goalie with under two minutes remaining.
Jenkins finished with an impressive 42 saves on 45 shots for the Jumbos, while Steve Messina stopped 21 of 25 stops for the Polar Bears.
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