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MHockeyCelebration24BowdoinNESCACQtr
Brian Beard
Members of the Middlebury men's ice hockey team celebrate following the opening goal during tonight's contest.
5
Winner Middlebury MIDMH 8-13-4
1
Bowdoin BOWDOIN 14-7-4
Winner
Middlebury MIDMH
8-13-4
5
Final
1
Bowdoin BOWDOIN
14-7-4
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 F
Middlebury MIDMH 2 1 2 5
Bowdoin BOWDOIN 1 0 0 1

Game Recap: Men's Ice Hockey |

Middlebury Upsets Bowdoin 5-1 In NESCAC Quarterfinal

The seventh-seeded Middlebury men's ice hockey team jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage and never looked back, upsetting second-seeded Bowdoin 5-1 on Saturday evening to book their place in the NESCAC Semifinals.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
  • The Panthers stormed into a 1-0 lead after just 2:33 of action. Wyatt Pastor backhanded a shot that hit the side of the net and caromed toward the crease. Andrew Seaman collected the puck and knocked it past Polar Bear netminder Alex Kozic to give Middlebury the early edge.
  • With 10:45 showing on the clock, Bowdoin nearly leveled the contest. James Cerepak broke away from the defense and skated in one-on-one with Panther goalie Jake Horoho, but his bid was thwarted as Horoho dove to his left to block the close-range attempt.
  • Middlebury doubled its lead with 3:09 to go in the opening stanza. Jin Lee picked off a pass in the neutral zone and burst into the offensive end before backhanding the puck across the slot to Michael Fairfax who one-timed his effort into the net for a 2-0 advantage.
  • The Polar Bears answered on the power play with just over six ticks left on the clock. Luke Wheeler received a pass in the low slot and set up Isaac Abbott for a tap-in on the right pipe to make it 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
  • With 6:41 remaining in the middle frame, Horoho was forced into a spectacular save. Mattingly Wierl cut past the Panther goalie and attempted to stuff his shot home, but Horoho managed to deny him at the last moment with a fantastic sprawling stop to maintain the one-goal lead.
  • Just one minute later, Middlebury nearly struck again. Zach Whitehead looked destined to score as his shot from in close beat Kozic, but the puck rattled the crossbar and went wide.
  • The Panthers restored their two goal lead during a power play with 1:08 left in the second stanza. Following a beautiful passing sequence, Seaman slid the puck to Pastor who one-timed it into the bottom left corner from in between the circles to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage with one period to play.
  • The Polar Bears opened the third frame on the front foot. After only 1:14, Will Forrest looked to cut the deficit to one on a two-on-one break, but Horoho stood tall and slid across the net to expertly deny the bid. 
  • Middlebury capped the contest with empty-net goals from Dante Palombo and Lee to seal the 5-1 upset triumph for the Panthers.
NOTES
  • Horoho was phenomenal in between the pipes, making 32 stops and boasting a .970 save percentage. During tonight's performance, the goaltender eclipsed 1,600 career saves, and has now stopped 1,610 shots.
  • With an assist in this evening's contest, Andrej Hromic has now recorded a point in nine of his last 12 games, while Lee has tallied a point in five of the last eight. 
  • Middlebury advances to the NESCAC Semifinals for the 15th time, and the first time since 2016.
  • The programs have played eight times in the conference tournament with the Panthers winning six of those contests.
Middlebury will face top-seeded/#6 Trinity in the semifinal round on Saturday, with the Bantams hosting the remainder of the championship.
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