Middlebury Edges Bowdoin for 2005 Men's Ice Hockey Championship

Courtesy Trinity Sports Information

Box Score

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Senior captain defenseman Brian Phinney (Ripton, Vt.) scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner and freshman Ross Cherry (Basking Ridge, N.J.) made 46 saves in goal to lead the Middlebury College Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Bowdoin College Polar Bears in the finals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament this afternoon at Kingswood-Oxford Rink.

Middlebury, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, improves to 20-4-3 with its fifth straight win and earns the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. No. 4-seeded Bowdoin ends the season with a 17-6-3 record. Middlebury has won the last two NESCAC Championship titles and five titles in the six years of the league’s post-season tournament.

In the first period, Cherry held Bowdoin at bay with 15 saves on as many shots, and junior goalie George Papachristopoulos (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec) did the same against 10 shots by the Panthers. Middlebury appeared to break the scoreless tie with 3:32 left in the first frame, but the officials ruled that the net had come loose before the puck had trickled on behind Papachristopoulos.

The second period featured five power play goals, including the game-winner blasted in by Middlebury sophomore forward John Sales (Chatham, Ill.) when a slapshot from the right wing by Phinney ricocheted off Papachristopoulos’ pads directly to him on the left. Middlebury scored 58 seconds into the second period when Phinney’s slapshot from the center of the blue line banged off the top of the back of the net. Bowdoin answered on the third goal in two days by sophomore forward Greg McConnell (Charlottetown, Price Edward Island) at the 3:02 mark. The Polar Bears briefly took the lead at 2-1 on a stuff-in by senior co-captain forward Shannon McNevan (Peterboro, Ontario) 8:13 into the second stanza, but Middlebury responded 56 seconds later on the Phinney’s second slapshot goal of the game. Bowdoin outshot Middlebury, 26-11, in the second period but hurt themselves with three penalties in five minutes to give Middlebury a two-man advantage just before Sales’ game-winning goal. Cherry stopped 24 shots in the second period and 12 in the third, while Papachristopoulos finished with 34 saves for Bowdoin.

2005 NESCAC MEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Feb. 26 at higher seeds
at No. 1 Trinity 9, No. 8 Tufts 2
at No. 2 Middlebury 3, No. 7 Hamilton 0
at No. 3 Colby 7, No. 6 Williams 0
at No. 4 Bowdoin 6, No. 5 Amherst 4

Semifinals - Saturday, March 5
Hosted by Trinity at Kingswood-Oxford Rink
No. 4 Bowdoin 3, at No. 1 Trinity 2
No. 2 Middlebury 4, vs. No. 3 Colby 1

Championship - Sunday, March 6
Hosted by Trinity at Kingswood-Oxford Rink
No. 2 Middlebury 3, vs. No. 4 Bowdoin 2