Box Score
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| Dan Kelly was one of four goal scorers for the Jumbos against Bowdoin |
MALDEN, Mass. – Bowdoin College sophomore Matthew Melanson scored the game-tying goal with just under two minutes left on the clock, and the Tufts men's hockey team and the Polar Bears played a scoreless overtime period to end in a 4-4 tie on Friday night at the Malden Valley Forum II.
With the tie, coupled with a Wesleyan loss tonight, the Jumbos clinched a spot in the NESCAC Tournament which begins next weekend.
With the tie the Jumbos are now 9-8-6 overall this season with a 5-7-5 mark in NESCAC play. The Polar Bears move to 12-7-4 overall with an 8-5-4 NESCAC record. The tie broke an eight-game winning streak the Polar Bears had going. Bowdoin is in third place in the conference standings, while the Jumbos are in seventh place with one game remaining in conference play.
The Polar Bears were the first to strike in the contest on Friday night. Bowdoin's Matt Rubinoff had a breakaway one-on-one opportunity just over three minutes into the first period, and he was able to beat Jumbo junior goaltender Mason Pulde over his left shoulder into the top right corner of the net to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.
The Jumbos would tie it just over halfway through the period when rookie Nick Abbene scored his fifth of the season. Junior Matt Pugh fired a shot that Bowdoin netminder Peter Cronin was able to stop, but Abbene got the rebound and snuck the puck past Cronin to tie the contest at one.
With under a minute left in the first period the Polar Bears scored their second goal of the period to take a 2-1 lead. Joseph Lace notched his third score of the season, as Mitch Barrington was credited with the helper. The Polar Bears had an opportunity to make it 3-1 with just under ten seconds remaining in the period when Matthew Lison had a breakaway one-on-one opportunity against Pulde. But, Pulde made a great save, keeping the game a one-goal difference.
A little more than four minutes into the second period, sophomore Brian Brown scored his sixth goal of the season, rifling a shot into the bottom right corner of the net to tie the game at two. Junior Sean Kavanagh and freshman Clay Berger picked up assists on the score. While both teams had opportunities to score the rest of the period, the Polar Bears put a lot of pressure on Pulde and the Jumbo defense. Pulde made 23 of his 45 saves in the second period.
The third period was filled with offense, as each team doubled their score. The scoring started early again in the third as Spencer Antunez's shot hit the post and ricocheted into the net to give the Polar Bears a 3-2 lead. Mitch Barrington picked up an assist on the goal.
The Jumbos answered soon after, tying the game again less than one minute later. Sophomore Dan Kelly's shot beat Cronin top shelf on his glove side, as classmate Nick Flanagan assisted the score.
The Jumbos would take their first lead of the game just under six minutes into the period when Conal Lynch found the puck just to the right of the goal after a Cronin save and fired a shot past the glove of Cronin to give the Jumbos a 4-3 lead. Senior co-captain Brian Ouellette tallied n assist on the goal.
The Jumbos would hold off some strong Bowdoin offensive pressure for a good portion of the rest of the third period. But, with just under two minutes left on the clock Melanson was able to sneak the puck past Pulde after a scramble in front of the net to tie the game at four and send it to overtime. Matt Rubinoff and Camil Blanchet picked up assists on the game-tying goal.
In the overtime period the Jumbos had some chances to score, but Cronin was able to keep the game tied at four, and after five minutes of overtime play, the game ended in a 4-4 tie. The Jumbos outshot the Polar Bears 7-3 in the overtime period.
Bowdoin had the advantage in shots overall in the contest, 49-36. Neither the Jumbos nor the Polar Bears were able to convert on the power play, as Bowdoin was 0-for-3 on the power play, and the Jumbos were 0-for-2 with the man advantage. Pulde made 45 saves on the day, while his Polar Bear counterpart, Cronin, tallied 32 saves.
The Jumbos wrap up their regular season schedule by hosting Colby on Saturday, which will be Seniors Day at the Valley Forum. There will also be playoff implications on the line, as the Jumbos and the Mules will be playing for the seventh and eighth seed. The Jumbos could finish as high as sixth, while the Mules could only be the seventh- or eighth-seeded team in the NESCAC Tournament which begins next weekend. The contest is scheduled to begin at 4 pm.
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