Trinity Upends Bowdoin in Men's Ice Hockey Quarterfinals
Courtesy Bowdoin Sports Information
Box
Score
BRUNSWICK, Maine - Trinity College freshman
goaltender Wesley Vesprini matched his career high with 36 saves to
lead the Bantam men's ice hockey team to a 5-2 win at Bowdoin in
the quarterfinals of the 2008 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship
on Saturday. The Bantams (13-10-2) advance to the NESCAC Semifinals
for the first time since 2006 and avenge three consecutive
conference tournament losses to the Polar Bears (17-7-0).
Bowdoin had several good chances in the early
going, and drew the first penalty of the game five minutes into the
contest but Trinity rookie netminder Wesley Vesprini swept aside
each Polar Bear opportunity. The best chance came courtesy of
sophomore Mike Corbelle, who charged towards the net, splitting
defenders but wristing the shot just high of the crossbar with
seven minutes left in the period. Vesprini ended the frame with 14
saves as the contest remained scoreless after one stanza.
Trinity had the best of play out of the gate in
the second period with Bowdoin netminder Chris Rossi answering the
call on a plethora of Trinity chances in the early going. The
Bantams broke through at 8:30 as Daniel Maturi skated down the
right side of the ice, circled to the net and banged home the puck
before colliding with Rossi to give Trinity a 1-0 lead. Minutes
later, Ryan Masucci unleashed a laser from the right circle to
notch his fifth goal of the season and give the Bantams a two-goal
lead at 6:45.
Trinity carried the lead into the final period,
where they killed off a Bowdoin powerplay to start the frame. The
Bantams added an insurance tally midway through the third period,
as Matthew Crum ripped a slapshot that beat Rossi at 11:39. Leland
Fidler trimmed the lead with seven minutes to go, finding the back
of the net with his third goal of the season to close the gap to
3-1. Chris Diozzi added an empty netter for the Bantams with 1:48
left before Ryan Leary took the ensuing faceoff and scored his 22nd
goal of the season for Bowdoin just 10 seconds later to make it
4-2.
Maturi's second goal was another empty-netter
for Trinity to close out the contest with 12 seconds on the clock.
Vesprini's NESCAC Tournament debut was
outstanding, as the rookie allowed just two goals and equaled his
career high set on February 8 against Tufts. Rossi allowed just
three goals, stopping 28 shots.
