Cole Semeniuk was the hero for the fourth-seeded Middlebury men's ice hockey team in Saturday's NESCAC Semifinal, scoring the golden goal with 8:41 remaining in the first overtime to send the Panthers past #9/second-seeded Bowdoin with a 3-2 victory.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Jake Stevens looked to get the scoring started just 1:40 into the contest, but Bowdoin goalie Jacob Osborne smothered his bid from the blue line.
• The Polar Bears logged back-to-back shots from Pierre Larocque and PJ Neal starting at the 4:33 mark. Panther netminder Andrew Heinze steered both aside.
• Tyler Wishart hustled up the ice and tried a one-timer with 5:42 expired. Osborne held his ground and covered the shot that bounced off his pad.
• Bowdoin struck with 8:20 to go in the second period. Louie Marcellino skated behind the goal and fired a dart pass to Bryce Bollman, who snuck it past Heinze for a 1-0 edge.
• Middlebury knotted the contest at the 15:24 mark. Michael Fairfax forced a turnover at the top of the Bowdoin defensive zone, creating a two-on-one opportunity. The forward wasted no time, flipping a cross crease pass to Brednich for a bar down bid. 
• Will Rice nearly redirected a shot into the net with 1:13 remaining, but Heinze stuck his right pad out to deny the chance.
• Issac Abbott and Jack Silverman had consecutive shots smothered by each netminder in the final ticks of the period as the sides stayed deadlocked at 1-1.
• With 10:30 left in the third, Middlebury took a 2-1 lead. John Halverson battled for possession in the corner and fired a pass to a trailing James Schneid. The forward tucked his shot into the right side of the net.
• At the 17:31 mark, Hunter Fetterolf lifted a one-timer off the faceoff toward the net. Heinze stayed controlled and pinned the puck to his chest.
• The Polar Bears broke through after pulling Osborne for an extra skater with 1:27 left. Daniel Menyalkin ripped a one-timer from the right side of the ice that tucked inside the left post, knotting the contest at 2-2.
• Middlebury's first opportunity in the extra stanza came at the 5:40 mark. Landon Brownlee collected possession at center ice, creating a solo chance against Osborne. The rookie fired a sizzler toward the right post, but the Bowdoin netminder stuck out his right pad to deny the chance.
• Semeniuk finalized the affair about three minutes later. Revy Mack hustled up the left side of the ice and flipped a cross-ice pass to the rookie, who bested Osborne over his shoulder and tucked it under the crossbar to punch Middlebury's ticket.

NOTES

• Semeniuk's golden goal was his first game-winner in a Middlebury uniform.
• Schneid (1G, 1A) and Brownlee (2A) each tallied multi-point performances.
• The sides met for the 101st rendition of their rivalry. Each side has won 45 times with 11 ties.
• Saturday's contest marked the first matchup in the semifinals between the two programs since 2013.

The Panthers advance to Sunday's championship game against sixth-seeded Williams at 2:00 p.m. with the NESCAC title on the line.