It was a good day for both Bowdoin College and Colby College as they advance to the semifinals in the NESCAC tournament with victories on the day.

Both schools needed to win on the road in order to advance as they were the lower seed entering the tournament.

Bowdoin, the No. 5 seed, needed more than regulation to get the victory as Colin Downey scored late in overtime to give the Polar Bears a 4-3 win over No. 4 Amherst College at Orr Rink on Saturday afternoon.

For much of the season, Bowdoin was a top the NESCAC standings before running into a slide that started with a game against Amherst where they lost 3-2 back on Feb. 4.

The power play was a key for the Polar Bears, going 2-for-5 on the day.

Down 1-0 after the first period, Bowdoin’s Brendan Reich tied the game at the 5:33 mark of the second period after he banged home a shot from in close, beating Amherst goaltender Cole Anderson.

Again, Bowdoin found itself down by a goal when Harry Matheson scored a power play goal at 13:02 to tie the game at 2-2, lifting a shot over Anderson.

Mark Colp put Amherst back out front with 3:38 to play in the second period as he redirected a slap shot from the point by Jamie Hawkrigg past Bowdoin netminder goalie Steve Messina.

For the third time in the game, Bowdoin managed to claw back to even, tying the game at 3-3, when Jeff Fanning lifted a shot over the right side of Anderson at the 12:06 mark in the third period.

With only 1:31 left in the first overtime, Downey managed to spilt the Amherst defense for a breakaway where he put the puck upstairs, past Anderson for this third point of day, giving the Polar Bears their only lead of the day.

Messina made 31 saves in the win, while Anderson stopped 36 of 40 shots faced in the loss.

Colby was the No. 6 seed entering the game, but that hardly mattered as they knocked off the defending NESCAC champion, Middlebury College with a 2-1 win at Kenyon Arena.

Middlebury, seeded No. 3, had been the class of NESCAC since 2000 when the current playoff system started, going to the title game every year.

Dan Nelson and Chris Buonomo gave Colby a 2-0 lead through two periods of play before Chaz Svoboda snapped Cody McKinney’s shutout at the 6:24 mark of the third period.

McKinney stopped 37 shots for the win, his 40th career win as a member of the Mules, as they prepare to move onto the second round.

In other action, the No. 1 seed Hamilton fell to No. 8 Wesleyan by a 5-2 score, while No. 2 seed Williams handed No. 7 Trinity a 4-3 loss.

Because Williams is the highest remaining seed, they will host the remaining tournament, starting next Saturday where they’ll face Wesleyan 1:00pm, while Bowdoin and Colby will face each other in the other semifinal game at 4:00pm. Bowdoin won the previous two meetings, 3-2 and 6-5.