Brunswick, ME – Bowdoin College was prepared for what Trinity College would throw at them.

After all, it’s playoff hockey and Trinity has given the Polar Bears fits in the past, but goaltender Steve Messina stood his ground with 31 saves in a tight defensive as the No. 2 Polar Bears edged No. 7 Trinity with a 2-1 victory before a sold out crowd (2,235), Saturday afternoon, in the NESCAC Quarterfinals at the Sid Watson Arena in Brunswick.

Bowdoin and Trinity have met six times in the NESCAC playoffs, dating back to 2001 with the Polar Bears holding a slight advantage in the series, 4-2, but in each case, the Bantams put out an effort that forced the Polar Bears to play their best or they went home.

“We’ve had some real tough games with them,” said Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher. “It’s been a real battle. They’re a good team and they’ve got some very good players. That team from when we played them in early Jan. to now has made a quantum leap in their game.”

It looked as if Bowdoin would get another one of those games from Trinity as they opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game, taking a 1-0 lead.

Joe Tierney took a feed from Paul Burns and ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle past goalie Steve Messina for his third goal of the season.

It would be a goal that Meagher felt Messina should have had, but the praise for the sophomore goalie was strong as he kept Trinity scoreless the rest of the game.

“I thought Steven (Messina), outside of the first goal, played a terrific game and came up with some real big saves for us,” said Meagher. “I thought we played a very quiet conservative last ten minutes that won us the game. I thought we played a flawless game with the lead.”

With 5:33 to play in the first period, Bowdoin evened the score, 1-1, as Rob MacGregor scored his seventh of the season, catching a piece of Rob Toczylowski slap shot from the right circle that trickled between the legs of goalie Ben Coulthard, who quickly was up in protest over the goal, arguing the call with the official, even as he laid on the ice after falling; however, the goal stood.

Coulthard, still upset over the goal standing, took an interference penalty at the 1:50 mark of the second period after attempting to make a linebacker-like tackle on freshman Connor Quinn behind the net.

Bowdoin responded with 25 seconds left on the power play as Graham Sisson, falling to the ice on his back, lifting the puck over Coulthard at 3:25 of the second period.

“It was a nice rebound and I was falling back as I got it and sort of lifted it over the goalies glove and it when,” said Sisson.

Bowdoin will now head to host school Amherst next weekend where they will play Middlebury in the NESCAC semifinals. It will be the third consecutive trip to the NESCAC Tournament for the Polar Bears, who won the NESCAC championship before having it vacated by the institution after a violation of school policy.

“We just want to move forward from last year and just repeat the performance (winning the NESCAC title) that we had,” said Sisson.