On Tuesday, February 16th, the Coast Guard Academy Bears travelled to Springfield, MA for a NECHA Quarterfinal game against the number two seed from the Colonial North Conference, Springfield College.
The game was a high-scoring affair, with Coast Guard striking first just under one minute into the game. Springfield responded and took a 3-2 lead into the second period. Coast Guard responded well and by the middle of the second stanza found themselves leading 4-3. Unfortunately, costly penalties caught up to the Bears who found themselves down 5-8 after the end of the second period. The Bear's battled back in the third period, but the deficit proved too much, as the team was only able to narrow it to a one goal game, losing 7-8.
The game marked the final collegiate game for Bear Seniors Josh Dykman, Bryan Koch, and Luke Walsh.
With the win, Springfield College advanced to the NECHA Colonial Semi-Final game on Saturday in Nashua, NH where they played Rhode Island College (RIC); in the other Semi-Final contest, Daniel Webster College (DWC) played Tufts University.
RIC defeated DWC in the NECHA Colonial Championship game 4-3 on Sunday.
The Coast Guard Academy Bears are scheduled to travel to Springfield College on Tuesday, 16 February for a NECHA Colonial Conference play-off game. The Quarterfinal play-off game will be played at Springfield's Cyr Arena at 5:30pm.
The Coast Guard is scheduled to play away games against Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Daniel Webster College on Friday and Saturday. These games mark the final weekend of NECHA regular season play.
The WPI game is a rescheduled contest from the November 13th postponement. The game will be played at the St. Mark's School rink in Southborough, MA. Game time is 7:40 pm. Coast Guard and WPI last played on January 15th at Dayton Arena; WPI won the contest 3-5.
The Bear's play Daniel Webster College on Saturday at the Conway Arena in Nashua, NH. Game time is 8pm. Daniel Webster College is holding an Alumni game and recognizing their graduating Senior Class in a special ceremony before the game. This is the only regular season game between the two teams.