Ephs advance to semis over Bowdoin in OT thriller, 3-2
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The first ever NESCAC tournament meeting between Williams and Bowdoin was nothing short of a stunning contest, as the game went into overtime, where sophomore forward Connor Olvany lifted a deflected shot into a wide-open goal to launch the Ephs into the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament with a 3-2 victory.
Bowdoin finishes their '08-'09 season with a 11-12-2 overall record while the Ephs, now 15-8-2, will play No. 2-seeded Middlebury at Amherst this Friday.
Not only had Williams lost their only meeting against Bowdoin this season 8-3, but they were also entering the tournament after losing both their games last weekend for the first time all year against Hamilton and Amherst.
"We were coming off a weekend in which we were outscored 9-0 in the third period," recalled head coach Bill Kangas. "Usually we're not a team that does that so that was something we talked about a lot during the week and I think it was evident today.... It's a 24-game season with a lot of highs and lows and you have to learn from your mistakes if you want to keep getting better and beat the better teams."
The scoring began early in the first period, when at 3:40 junior forward Colin MacCormack took a pass from senior forward/defenseman Matt Smith and flung it past Eph freshman goaltender Ryan Purdy for his 8th on the year. The early goal did little to shake the nerves of the rookie, as Purdy would stop the rest of the 15 shots he faced in the opening twenty minutes.
Williams responded to the stellar play of their netminder by mounting some offensive pressure later in the period, and at 13:18 sophomore forward Ryan Young gathered a loose puck and wristed it over the shoulder of Polar Bear goalie Chris Rossi for his 9th this season, tying the score at 1. Senior forward Brett Haraguchi started the play by stickhandling from the Eph blue line all they way into the Polar Bear zone. Freshman defenseman Justin Troiani also assisted on the goal.
"We went down early, but we hung in there," said Kangas. "We didn't come out of the shoot as strong as we would have liked, but we picked up our intensity in the middle period and we got better as the game went on."
Indeed, Williams came out of the gate skating with purpose and speed in the second, putting Rossi to the test early and often. Bowdoin regained some momentum after a few minutes, missing a wide-open net on a rebound chance that caught Purdy out of position. But the Eph netminder again regained his composure and stopped all 20 Polar Bear shots in the period.
"Ryan made a number of big saves to calm us down when we needed him to," acknowledged coach Kangas. "Bowdoin is a great team and they come at you in so many ways...quick forwards and quick defensemen.... Ryan and our defense really handled it well."
The Ephs would take the lead in the second at 13:37, when Troiani centered the puck from behind the Bowdoin net to senior forward Matt Draheim. The veteran waited patiently, skated to the open spot, and ripped a wrister over a baited Rossi for his 9th goal, giving the Williams a one-goal advantage. Olvany also earned an assist on the score.
The Ephs started the final frame down a man. Although they successfully killed this first penalty, they were unable to kill a second Bowdoin man-advantge just minutes later, as MacCormack slapped home a one-time feed from freshman forward/defenseman Graham Sisson for his 9th goal, knotting the score at 2 with 14:50 left in regulation.
With 6:33 left, Bowdoin received a five-minute major penalty for hitting from behind. However, the Polar Bears held their ground, and killed off the entire penalty, escaping a near game-winner by Matt Draheim. The Eph forward found a loose puck all alone in front of the net and made a strong move, but was stopped by Rossi's right pad.
The match went into overtime, and right from the start of the period the Ephs began to threaten for the win. Haraguchi just missed putting in the game-winner on the power-play on a back-door set-up from the point. A few minutes later, a deflection try just skidded wide of an open Bowdoin net.
Finally, at 9:10 in the overtime period, sophomore forward Matt Masucci took the puck out from behind the net and tried a wrap-around wrister. His shot was knocked down by a Polar Bear defender, but the loose puck came to Olvany, who guided it into the open net for the game-winner. The Eph bench cleared in a wild celebration of their first playoff win in over ten years.
"This was a big team win as it was our first playoff victory in a long time," remarked Kangas. "It was a great team effort that really paid tribute to all the hard work we put into practice this past week. Our seniors played sensational games and contributed in so many ways to this win."
The Ephs will face conference powerhouse Middlebury this Friday at Amherst at 4 p.m. The two teams tied earlier this season, 4-4 and it should prove to be another close match.
