The Coast Guard Academy Bear's Ice Hockey team kicked off the 2011-2012 season with on-ice practices this week. Coach Tyler Kelley was pleased with the what he saw in the first few sessions. He is hopeful that this year's team, led by senior's Spencer McFarland, Anders Manley, and Chris Martin will return the Bear's to prominence as a top contender in the NECHA Colonial Conference. The team has one of the busiest schedules in recent years with ten road games as a result of league scheduling commitments. Kelley is still hoping to add one or two more home games, including a game with fan-favorite, Connecticut College in late February.
The Coast Guard Academy Bear's open their schedule with three road games when they play Roger Williams University, Tufts University, and Rhode Island College on October 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, respectively.
The Coast Guard Academy Bears will open their 2010-2011 regular season at home on Friday Night against the University of New Haven. Game time is 8 pm. The next day, they will play host to Tufts University at 3pm.
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.