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Volume CXXXIII, Number 11 |
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Colby slips on the ice
DERRICK WONG
STAFF WRITER
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| Members of the men’s hockey team await action on the ice at Alfond Arena in Waterville, Maine. The Bears crushed Colby 6-3. (Brian Dunn, Bowdoin Orient) |
Chants, cheers, and even an arrest or two-Colby-Bowdoin hockey games are always intense, and the first meeting of the 2003 season was no exception.
The men's hockey team, already off to a successful start with wins over New England College and SUNY Geneseo, buried the Mules in Waterville last Tuesday, 6-3.
Bowdoin had not defeated Colby at Alfond Arena for the last four years, but this time was different. "Everybody was fired up, focused, and ready to go," junior Shannon McNevan said.
"It was certainly just like any other Colby game," senior Mike Healey said. "We really feed off the energy from the crowd, and had no trouble getting pumped up for the game."
Colby, an experienced team with 17 juniors and seniors on its roster, faced a young Bowdoin squad. Sophomore forward Jon Landry, whose 2.25 points per game rank him 12th in the nation, has led the Bears in scoring. First years James Gadon (2 goals, 4 assists) and Bryan Ciborowski (1 goal, 4 assists) are other significant contributors, and defenseman Nate Riddell '05 has three assists.
The Bears' youthfulness has worked to their advantage so far. "Our offense has been driven by freshman and sophomore classes," Healey said. "That's great both for this year and the next few years."
"Two of our top three scorers are freshman this year, which is a really pleasant surprise," McNevan said.
In the first period, both teams' strong defensive play prevented any scoring. Both got on the board in the second frame, with Matt Roy '06 picking up the first goal of the game. Sophomore Adam Mackie and Landry assisted. Nick Dann '06 scored the Bears' second goal off passes from Matt Kovacich '05 and McNevan.
According to the players, the support of Bowdoin fans motivated them further. "It was a great feeling to have the fans up there," McNevan said. "Usually when you go to away, you lose the puck and hear the other team's fans yelling, but we could hear our fans at Colby and it was great."
Captain Mike Stevens '04 provided a key goal in the third period, putting the Bears up 3-2. A tying chance for the Mules was called back, and it was all Bowdoin from there. Andy Nelson '06, Ciborowski, and Roy added goals in the third, pushing the final total to 6-3.
The Bears (3-1-0) currently sit atop the NESCAC rankings, followed by Amherst, Colby, Middlebury, and Williams.
On November 22, Bowdoin had less positive results against St. Anselm's College. The dissolution of Division II has made St. A's a permanent member of Division III, and the Hawks dealt the Bears a close 4-3 loss in which they never trailed.
Things went better in the first game of last weekend's Bowdoin-Colby Classic in Waterville. Bowdoin dealt the State University of New York at Geneseo a 4-2 loss, but dropped a non-conference game to the under-18 national team in the second round.
Landry netted the only goal in Bowdoin's 5-1 loss. The under-18s tied Colby and were crowned Classic champions.
The men will play their last pre-finals games at home, facing off with Castleton State tonight at 7:00 p.m. and Skidmore tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.
McNevan indicated that, while the weekend's opponents may not be as challenging as Colby or St. A's, the Bears are not slacking off. "The two teams coming in aren't quite the same caliber as last weekend, but we just want to keep the momentum going into break," McNevan said.
"Anybody can beat anybody in this league, so we're approaching it as a formidable threat," Healey said. "We'll treat the games just as if it was Colby."
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