BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Salve Regina men's ice hockey team rallied back with three unanswered goals but came up just short in a 6-5 loss to ninth-ranked Bowdoin College during the opening day of the Bowdoin-Colby Faceoff Classic on Saturday at Watson Arena.

The Polar Bears improve to 3-0-1 and will face Suffolk University in Waterville at 1:00 p.m. The Seahawks drop to 2-6-0 and will play at Colby at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Robert Toczylowski had two goals and an assist for Bowdoin while Daniel Weiniger pitched in a pair of goals. Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) had two scores and a helper for Salve Regina.

Connor Quinn got the hosts on the board first when he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and slipped a shot from the right slot inside the left post at 5:44. Gintoli was able to even the score for the Seahawks about five minutes later, taking advantage of a defensive miscue by the Polar Bears to net a breakaway score at 11:03. Bowdoin quickly regained the lead as Weinger collected a rebound to the right of the net and tucked the put-back inside the post just 46 seconds later. Toczylowski's first goal of the night with 26 seconds left in the opening period gave the Polar Bears a 3-1 lead at intermission.

Another breakaway goal for Gintoli - this time shorthanded - drew the Seahawks within 3-2 just 3:11 into the second frame, but the Polar Bears erupted for three goals in a span of 2:03 to take a commanding 6-2 edge later in the stanza. Kyle Lockwood deked the Salve netminder and slipped the puck into an open net at 13:42 before a rebound goal by Weiniger came 34 seconds later. Toczylowski wristed a top-shelf goal at 15:45 to give the hosts a four-goal advantage. A Chase Davis (Dallas, Texas) put-back for Salve at 16:57 drew the visitors to within 6-3 at the end of two periods.

John Scorcia (Hudson, Fla.) made it 6-4 by beating a Bowdoin defender 1-on-1 at 9:53 of the final frame, drawing a penalty in the process. On the ensuing power play, Marc Biggs (Plano, Texas) deposited a slap shot into the top right corner, drawing Salve to within 6-5 with 8:28 remaining. Both teams traded blows over the final minutes but neither found the back of the net again as the Polar Bears clung to the one-goal victory.

Steve Messina made 34 saves in net for the Polar Bears. David Chiokadze (Langhorne, Pa.) made 24 saves over the first 35:45, before being replaced by Mike McDonald (Whitby, Ontario), who stopped ten shots in 22:58 of play.

Courtesy of Bowdoin Sports Information