Photo courtesy of Fritz Baldauf ’24
On the evening of February 23rd, 2023, the Connecticut College Men’s Club Hockey Team dominated the Coast Guard Academy Bears club program 4-1 in front of a full house at Dayton Arena. Despite not pulling away until the early third period, the Camels controlled the pace of the game from the first puck drop until the final horn.
Conn set a physical tone in the first five minutes of the game that would last throughout. Much to the delight of the blue and white-clad fans, the Camels made Coast Guard pay for every inch of the ice, laying hit, after hit, after big hit. After a flurry of chances, the Camels finally took a 1-0 lead through a power play goal by defenceman Joe Lucien. That lead wouldn’t last long, however. The Bears pulled level on a power play goal of their own with 3:15 left in the first period. Several big hits were laid both ways in the remainder of the first period, and Camel goaltender Jack McGee made a series of impressive saves, but the first period ended in a deadlock.
The second period started with a breakneck, up-and-down pace, and McGee being called into action to make a few more big saves. The Camels created several big chances between the 15:00 and 12:00 marks, and finally regained the lead on a goal from forward Atticus Roop with 11:26 remaining. Although it felt that Conn was in control of the game, dominating most of the possessions and not giving away many big chances, that was thrown into jeopardy late in the second period. Coast Guard were the benefactors of a five-minute penalty against Conn called with about seven minutes remaining in the period. This was heightened a few moments later when the Camels were hit with another penalty, forcing them to play three-on-five for two minutes. The Camels, led by a series of saves by McGee and a series of timely clearances from their power play kill team, were able to escape the power play without surrendering the lead.
Conn carried the momentum from the late second-period power play kill over to the start of the third period, where they extended their lead to 3-1 as Lucien lined up a long shot that lasered into the top left corner of the net from just inside the blue line with 18:55 remaining in the game. Forward William Conway tacked on a fourth goal for good measure with 12:40 remaining in the game. From there, the Camels cruised, seeing out the rest of the game with minimal stress.
The atmosphere of the entire game was loud and rowdy, with students and parents from both Conn and Coast Guard creating as good of an environment as you’ll find in southeastern Connecticut. Fans were standing for most of the game, and cheering and chanting for all of it. The Thames River Classic is one of the highlights on Conn’s sports calendar every year, and this year was especially exciting, with such a dominant win over our regional rivals. Go Camels!
