Amherst edged the women's lacrosse team out of the NESCAC quarterfinals on Saturday.
Although the Polar Bears trailed the Jeffs closely at intermission with a score of 5-4, Amherst managed to overpower them in the second half and win the game 9-7.
Betsy Sachs '14 led the Polar Bears in scoring, earning a hat trick and netting every shot she took. Carolyn Gorajek '13, Jordan Smith '14, Katie Herter '12, and Chelsea Albright '12 followed Sachs in the attack, each tallying a point for the Polar Bears. The Jeffs finished with only a slight 21-18 shot advantage, and collected 18 ground balls compared to Bowdoin's 17.
According to Sachs, "We didn't outplay them in any particular facet of the game. We played them evenly in terms of ground balls, shots and draw controls, and in order to dominate the game you need to control these aspects."
Fourth-seeded Amherst moves on to a semifinal match against Middlebury, while the fifth-seeded Polar Bears are left hoping for an at-large bid to the NCAA D-III tournament, which will be announced this Sunday.
The likelihood of Bowdoin receiving an invitation depends on the outcomes of D-III conference tournaments this weekend. This includes the Amherst-Middlebury match as well as the other NESCAC semifinal between Hamilton and Trinity, both of which will take place at Trinity. Despite the uncertainty of getting the bid, the team remains hopeful.
"We all have our fingers crossed that we will get a chance to continue," said Sachs. "None of us want the Amherst game last weekend to be how we end our season. We are all working hard in practice to keep up our level of play and stay focused," she added.
Although they are unsure as to whether or not their season has finished, Sachs and the rest of the team cannot help beginning to think about next season.
This year, eight seniors will graduate, including half of the team's top 10 scorers. However, Sachs remains excited for the coming season.
"We will all be sad to see them go," she said. "I look up to all of the seniors on the field and off and they will be sorely missed, but I have confidence that our returning players will step up to fill the roles the seniors played on the team."
Until the bids are announced, the team must wait for their results. Four teams remain in the NESCAC Tournament, and tomorrow at Trinity, Hamilton and Trinity will face off while Amherst takes on Middlebury. To finish up this season, the Polar Bears will play the waiting game.