WATERVILLE, Maine – Bowdoin scored two goals in both the first and second periods and held on to defeat the Connecticut College men's ice hockey 5-1 on Friday night from Watson Arena. With the loss, Conn falls to 4-3-1 and 3-2-0 in conference play, while Bowdoin improves to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in NESCAC action.

Bowdoin opened the scoring just 5:22 into the contest with a power play marker. On the man advantage, Bryce Bollman collected the rebound of a shot from Luke Wheeler to put the Polar Bears up 1-0. Conn answered with three shots on goal, but Andrew Eberling (Mount Laurel, N.J.), Reid Shafer (Coppell, Texas), and Jon Barker (North Kingstown, R.I.) were all turned aside. With just under seven and a half minutes left, Bowdoin doubled the lead as Wheeler notched a shorthanded goal to make 2-0 after one.

The Polar Bears extended the lead just past the five minute mark of the middle frame, as Jackson Holl made it 3-0. Conn finally got on the board just over a minute later. Eberling won the puck on the right wall and fed it down to Jack Houser (Arlington, Mass.). Houser skated towards the net and pulled Bowdoin goalie Jacob Osborne out of position, before finding Quinn Kennedy (Silver Spring, Md.) who made no mistake to cut the deficit to 3-1. Conn pushed to cut the deficit again, but at 14:27 Bowdoin pushed it back to a three goal advantage on a tally from Jack Barbro as the Polar Bears led 4-1 after two.

The Camels tried to cut into the Polar Bear advantage, but Osborne and Bowdoin held strong. With just over eight minutes remaining, Bowdoin pushed the lead to four, as Justin Wright found the back of the net. Conn continued to push, but were unable to get any closer, falling 5-1.

Bowdoin outshot Conn 35-21, while winning 33 of 54 draws.

Kellen Beauton (Colchester, Conn.) got the start in goal, recording 30 saves. Kennedy tallied the lone goal, while both Eberling and Houser chipped in one assist. John Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) led the way in the circle, winning eight draws, while Conn finished the evening 1-9 on the power play and 4-5 on the penalty kill.

Osborne picked up the win for Bowdoin, tallying 20 saves. Barbro led the way with two points on a goal and an assist, while seven other Polar Bears recorded one point. Bowdoin finished 1-5 on the power play and 8-9 on the penalty kill.

Conn wraps up the 2024 portion of the schedule tomorrow afternoon, as the Camels take on Colby in Waterville, Maine at 3:00 p.m.