The Middlebury men's ice hockey team recorded Friday's first goal, but host Bowdoin tallied the next five scores and pulled away for a 5-1 victory.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Polar Bears came out firing 43 seconds into the initial period. Jack Gilligan's shot from the right point was saved by the glove of goalie Andrew Heinze.
• The Panthers quickly responded moments later, but bids in quick succession from Jin Lee and Max Noll were thwarted by netminder Jacob Osborne's pads.
• Middlebury continued to buzz the zone. With 9:39 expired, a rising attempt from the right circle by Bobby May clanged off the post and caromed away.
• The Panthers found the back of the net while shorthanded at the 13:34 mark. Jackson Morehouse gathered a mishandled puck outside the crease and lifted it over Osborne's shoulder for the 1-0 advantage.
• The visitors nearly doubled their edge two minutes later, but Osborne made a sprawling stop on a shot by Jack Silverman from the right side.
• Bowdoin searched for the equalizer with 1:46 showing on the clock. Mattie Wierl sent a backhanded bid toward the net that was denied by the left pad of Heinze.
• In the opening minute of the second period, Gabe Shipper had a quality chance, but Heinze stopped his one-timer.
• The Polar Bears leveled the game at the 6:40 mark when Shipper rifled a wrister into the left side of the nylon to knot it at 1-1.
• The hosts continued to ride the momentum, scoring again 19 seconds past the midway point of the stanza. Jake Minella raced down the middle of the ice, collecting a stick-to-stick pass before muscling his shot inside the left post for a 2-1 edge.
• Revy Mack looked to settle a bouncing puck and post the equalizer with 8:25 showing on the clock, but his backhanded opportunity was saved by Osborne.
• Aidan Lyons pushed the Bowdoin lead to 3-1 with 1:07 gone in the third period, skating inside the blueline and ripping a knuckling bid that tucked inside the right post.
• Five minutes later while the Panthers were down a skater, Lee corralled a loose puck in the offensive zone and laced a shot that Osborne got a piece of with his blocker and deflected over the bar.
• Middlebury called a timeout with 3:26 remaining and pulled Heinze in favor of an extra skater, but Shipper scored a pair of empty-net goals for the final 5-1 result.

NOTES

• Morehouse has tallied at least one point in each of the last five games, scoring four times and posting six assists during that stretch. The shorthanded tally was the first of his career.
• The programs squared off for the second time this season and the 98th time overall with Bowdoin holding a 44-43-11 edge in the all-time series. The Panthers defeated the Polar Bears 5-0 in the season-opening game on November 15 in Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.

Middlebury completes its NESCAC road weekend on Saturday when it takes on Colby at 3:00 p.m.