Middlebury, Vt. - Freshman forward Ryan Stevens (Concord, N.H.) netted the game-winning goal on a rebound to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 3-2 win over the Bowdoin College Polar Bears in the semi-final round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament at Middlebury College's Kenyon Arena this afternoon.

Trinity, seeded No. 4 in the tourney, will play No. 1-seeded Middlebury tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Polar Bears, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, fall to 18-4-3 for the season and must hope to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The Bantams improve to 17-7-1 with their sixth straight win. Middlebury had defeated No. 6-seeded Colby, 4-2, in the other semi-final game earlier today.

Stevens poked in the rebound after a shot by Bantam senior co-captain forward Jeff Griffin (Wethersfield, Conn.) was saved by Bowdoin sophomore goalie Mike Healey (Hamden, Conn.) 9:45 into the overtime period. The score ended an almost 40-minute scoring drought for both teams, as Healey and Trinity senior goalie Geoff Faulkner (Westerville, Ohio) totaled 62 saves between them for the game.

Trinity opened the scoring at the 14:07 mark of the first period when senior defenseman Martins Lans (Carnikava, Latvia) hit freshman forward Jeff Natale (Hamden, Conn.) with a long pass and Natale skated unabated to the net for a short-handed breakaway goal. The Polar Bears quickly answered on a score by junior forward Sean Starke (Montreal, Quebec) just 55 seconds later.

In the second frame, Trinity freshman Joe Ori (Niles, Ill.) found the net, taking the puck off the boards and stuffing it home on the short side of the goal. Bowdoin rallied quickly again, as freshman forward Matt Kovacich (Brookfield, Wisc.) converted a feed from Adam Mackie (Charlottetown, Price Edward Island) to tie the score at 2-2 with 10:12 remaining in the second period.

Both teams had scoring chances in the third period, and Bowdoin had a goal waved off that found its way past Fauilkner via a kick by a Bowdoin player. Faulkner finished the game with 34 saves, while Healey stopped 28 shots.

SCORING