Despite Early Lead Ephs Lose Shootout at Bowdoin – Williams College

BRUNSWICK, ME — After a loss against Colby College the day prior, the Williams College Ephs (6-8-2) were looking to secure 3 points this weekend by taking down the Bowdoin College Polar Bears (7-9-1). The GAME  started off in favor of the Ephs who took an early lead and were leading the Polar Bears 3-1, but after two periods Bowdoin tied the game at 3-3, and defated the Ephs in the shootout 
 
There was no questioning the dedication came with a great effort from Liam Jones who has been overwhelmingly dependable and consistent for the Ephs this year. He put a great shot on net that found Logan Valkama who put the first goal home for Williams. The Polar Bears had a momentary push back goal, but that was quickly shut over come by the first year class with Jake McManus finding Rowan Heithoff in the slot for a beautiful shot past the Bowdoin goalie and giving the Ephs the lead back. 
 
Throughout the second period the Ephs sustained constant pressure. They fought off a volley of Bowdoin’s shots. The penalty kill came up huge for the Ephs in this period as well as they didn’t let anything through and shut down each of Bowdoin’s attempts. Trevor O’Brien would keep the Ephs going  with a great unassisted effort in the offensive zone to put the Ephs up by 2 goals.
 
The Polar Bears then managed to capitalize on two of their chances through the second and third period that got them into overtime. With 5 minutes of overtime deciding nothing for this one, the game moved into a shootout. The Ephs sent Jake McManus and Trevor O’Brien who were unfortunately shut down by the Polar Bear’s goalie. 
 
Eph head coach Bill Kangas had this to say after the game, “The team got off to a solid start today against a strong Bowdoin team. Our pace, puck movement and overlapping play was very good. While we outnumbered Bowdoin on multiple occasions, we did not do as good of a job neutralizing them, leading to two of their goals, with one of them occurring during our power play.” Coach Kangas also had this to say about next week’s games, “Our energy and team play has been our strength, and we will be leaning on that as we get back to The Chap next week versus two conference foes, Connecticut College and Tufts University. In preparation for these games, I am confident the team will have a motivated and enthusiastic week of practice.”