WATERVILLE — Things went according to plan for the Colby College men’s ice hockey team Saturday night.
The Mules scored first, came out on top of the special teams battle and — perhaps most importantly — extended their unbeaten run to seven games against rival Bowdoin with a 5-2 win in a New England Small College Athletic Conference game on Alumni Night at Alfond Rink.
Freshman Alex Bourhas scored the first two goals of his career in his home debut, senior Kienan Scott netted his first of the season and defenseman Mark Leprine dished out three assists as the Mules (1-2-0) earned their first victory of the year.
“Last weekend was pretty demoralizing, and we knew coming into this game that it was going to be kind of a statement for us,” said Scott, emphasizing the team’s need for scoring early, getting the power play going and turning in solid penalty killing. “It was a great way to start the home schedule for the season, and hopefully it will propel us into some good games in the coming weeks.”
Colby is now 6-0-1 in its last seven against Bowdoin. Colby’s last loss to Bowdoin came on Dec. 5, 2015, before the current crop of seniors enrolled at the school. The Mules’ last home loss against the Polar Bears was on Nov. 22, 2014.
Bowdoin is also 1-2-0 on the young season.
Bourhas, playing on the wing of a line with Michael Morrissey and Justin Grillo, said it would be hard to script a debut much better than the one enjoyed Saturday.
“It’s something special that Colby and Bowdoin have, and it’s an honor and a privilege just to be a part of it,” Bourhas said. “For it to go down like that, and for the boys to get a much-deserved win — after the way last weekend went where we did a lot of good things (but lost to Williams and Middlebury), we deserved this one. We’re going to enjoy it while we can.”
The teams traded power play goals in the first period, and Bourhas’ first of the night — also on the power play — handed Colby a 2-1 lead through two periods.
The Mules opened the third by killing off the final 2:03 of a boarding major to freshman Jacob Thousand and appeared to be in the driver’s seat before Bowdoin’s Graham Rutledge knotted things up for a second time just over a minute later.
It took Colby just 39 seconds to take the lead once again, this time for good, when Bourhas finished off a give-and-go with Grillo at the 3:44 mark.
“I just loved how we responded,” Colby coach Blaise MacDonald said. “I thought their whole line did really well. Bourhas had a mindset to get to the net tonight, which was great.”
“It’s a mix of skill, some heart and some character,” Bourhas. “The way we jell together (as a line) is we feed of one another, and we’re not afraid to get into dirty areas and play the right way. If we can bring that night in and night out, it will be a successful season.”
Midway through the third, J.P. Schuhlen converted another 2-on-1 rush for a 4-2 lead, and Grillo popped in an empty-netter late to put it away.
Colby’s power play connected twice, while its penalty kill went 5 for 6 — allowing only seven shots to Bowdoin’s man-advantage unit, three of them during the five-minute major to Thousand.
Senior goalie Andrew Tucci made 16 saves in the Colby nets. Bowdoin’s Alex Zafonte stopped 26 shots.
“It was a really tight game,” Scott said. “I think the big momentum swing was killing off the 5-minute power play. I think after that, we just took over the game. That was awesome.”
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