Men's Hockey Advances to NESCAC Semifinal After OT Win at Bowdoin

BRUNSWICK, MAINE (March 1, 2025) - The Tufts University men's ice hockey team defeated the Bowdoin Polar Bears late in overtime 2-1 to advance to the semifinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference Men's Ice Hockey Tournament after a hard fought game in Brunswick.

The Jumbos (10-12-1, 8-10-0 NESCAC) were hot out of the gates, immediately controlling the puck and dominating the offensive zone. They peppered the Bowdoin netminder, Jacob Osborne, with four shots on goal in the opening 150 seconds. It wouldn't take long before their pressure on offense yielded results, as Harrison Bazianos knocked home the first goal of the game at the 4:10 mark. It was a blue-collar goal as his linemates Tyler Sedlak and Max Resnick combined to work a shot off of Osborne's pads, which Bazianos pounced on to poke home for the opening goal of the game. 

Tufts was off to a hot start, and it almost seemed to shock Bowdoin at first. The Polar Bears were quick to settle in after going down a goal, and managed to find their footing on offense and began to test junior goaltender Gustave Bylin. Bylin was ready for the task, but the home side would manage to slip one past the netminder to even the score about halfway through the first period. Bylin was stellar from there on out, making 39 of 40 saves on the night. 

The second period saw each team battling on both ends of the ice. It was tiring work, no doubt, for each side as they chased the puck from one end to the other. The back and forth action was not without its shortage of scoring chances for either side; both Osborne and Bylin were busy making save after save and totalled 10 and 13 saves respectively by period's end. 

The third period saw much of the same, albeit with an increased pace as the clock wound down. The Jumbos were much more eager to shoot in the third period, looking for and finding deflections in front of the net. Osborne would be forced into 15 saves in the third frame, but would not budge despite the best efforts of Bazianos, Sedlak, Resnick and crew. The final buzzer sounded with no change in score since halfway through the first, and the sudden death over time loomed over each side as they caught their breath following the third.

Overtime began with back and forth action resuming without missing a beat. Each team flew up and down the ice, albeit with shorter shifts as fatigue began to take effect. Bylin would make a number of rock-solid saves as the Tufts defense did an excellent job of keeping the Polar Bear Pressure away from the slot. Eventually, a hard-working forecheck pried the puck away from Bowdoin in their own defensive end. Sophomore Jon Horn came up with possession and found fellow sophomore Trace Norwell with space in the slot. Norwell connected with an unstoppable one-timer into the top corner of the goal to give Tufts the over time win and the upset over No. 4 seeded Bowdoin.

Tufts will be back in action next weekend at the NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship Semifinal at Hamilton College as they take on the No. 3 seeded Colby College on Saturday, March 8 at 4:30 pm.