Trinity Upends Bowdoin in Men's Ice Hockey Quarterfinals
Courtesy Bowdoin Sports Information
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.
