The Bowdoin Orient

The women’s rugby squad completed a tour of Europe over spring break, stopping in Barcelona, Spain and Perpignan and Toulouse, France to play friendly matches against local squads. According to a post on the team’s athletics website from Aviva Mattingly ’15, the team met tough competition in their travels, facing opponents with much more experience. The team scrimmaged against a local French team in Toulouse, playing 15-on-15 with a  mixture of French- and English-speaking players on each team.

Led by reigning NESCAC Pitcher of the Year captain Oliver Van Zant ’13, the baseball team got off to a hot start in the warm Florida climate, where the team plays during Spring Break each year. Despite winning its first four games, including two 7-0 shutouts of Husson, the team lost to Keene State, 4-3 after four extra innings.  In the next nine games, the Polar Bears won just four games and suffered three losses in a row, to finish 8-6 overall. Chief among the team’s early concerns are its hitting and defense—Bowdoin has allowed 109 hits from its opponents across 14 games, while only totalling 108 of its own. 

The softball team cruised to a 4-game win streak in Florida before losing two straight, the first to Keene State 8-4, and the second to Ripon College 13-5. The team rebounded from the defeats, winning seven of its next 10 games to finish the break play 11-5. Of all the teams Bowdoin played over spring break, it compiled the same number of wins as Wesleyan, Salve Regina and Amherst. Despite outscoring its opponents 78-68 over 16 games, the team allowed slightly more hits it had, 120 to 118. The team is averaging just over two errors per game so far. 

Despite a frustrating and effective defensive effort from UMass Dartmouth (UMDM) on Wednesday in Watson Arena, the men’s ice hockey team broke away in the late second period to evenutally beat the Corsairs 5-2 and will advance to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament this Saturday. 

The match began with two one-on-one breakaways by UMDM's front, but they failed to pressure the Polar Bear goalkeeper, Steve Messina '14, who started for Bowdoin for the first time since their win against Hamilton in the NESCAC quarterfinals two weeks earlier. According to head coach Terry Meagher after the game, a commmittee of team leaders and coaches decided to go with Messina even though Max Fenkell '15 had two strong performances in a row against Middlebury and Williams in the NESCAC semifinals and championship rounds. 

"It was a really tough decision," Meagher said. "Max had his run and did really well. We have a young man [Messina] who we’ve been splitting with all season, who is as important a member of this team as anybody. We got the home ice bid by some spectacular play on Steven’s part on the road. If you look at his history, you look at what he did on a Wednesday night two or three years ago against Newman that was a spectacular performance, his work ethic, and how he handled himself when Max got the nod for the championship game—all those things entered into [the decision]. 

For the first time since the vacated NESCAC championship of 2011, the men’s ice hockey team has been crowned NESCAC champions after defeating Williams in a 2-1 battle on Sunday afternoon.

The game began with early back and forth between the two teams, but the puck began to find a home on Williams’ side of the ice, with the NESCAC's goals-against-average leader Sean Dougherty blocking shot after shot from the Polar Bears.

Colin Downey ’14 broke the first period scoring drought during a power play with an untouched laser beam after John McGinnis ’15 and Ollie Koo ’14 feigned a shot on Dougherty’s left but instead passed the puck in front of the net, where Downey struck it past the goalie's reach into the opposite corner of the net.

The men's hockey team never fell behind against NESCAC rival Middlebury on Saturday, swinging out to a 3-0 lead before surviving a late Panther rebuttal to win 4-2. This marks the first NESCAC championship berth since the 2010-2011 season, when the Polar Bears beat Williams, 5-2, but later vacated the trophy due to the uncovering of the team's involvement in a hazing incident.

In front of a rowdy crowd at Watson Arena, the Polar Bears controlled the puck during the first period, pressuring Middlebury's sophomore goalie Mike Peters for 11 shots, two of which slipped in. Both first period goals came at the hands of Danny Palumbo '15.

The second period began much the same way, with back and forth between the two teams before captain Daniel Weineger '13 scored  to give the Polar Bears a commanding 3-0 lead. Midd responded near the end of the second with their first goal.

There are very few people who need no introduction, but Men’s Hockey Coach Terry Meagher is certainly of them, at least on this campus. In his 30th season, Meagher has won an astounding 495 games, 22nd all time among coaches in the history of men’s collegiate ice hockey. Over the course of his tenure, he has consistently attracted talent to Brunswick and deployed innovative strategies for sealing wins. This year is no different for Meagher, as men’s ice hockey now has the most wins since the 1988-1989 season, and was ranked as high as second in the nation. The team is currently the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC championship, and will face Middlebury this Saturday.

But Meagher is more than just a coach, and his 30 years at Bowdoin add up to more than just a successful career. Students cite his easy-going attitude and intense pride for anything Bowdoin-related as reasons behind his significant influence in the lives of generations of students, even those outside of the hockey program.

Born and raised in the blue-collar town of Belleville, Ontario, Meagher is one of nine children. Like many of his siblings, Meagher grew up on the pond.

RC: Middlebury has a record of 39-27-5 against Bowdoin. Will this history have any influence on the outcome of Saturday’s game?

OT: I think that you have to take the historical record into account somewhat when looking at this match-up.  Certainly, Bowdoin has been the strongest team in the conference this year, but as head coach Bill Beaney told me on Monday, the two teams have a long history of playing competitive games against one another regardless of either one's record—potentially adding more significance to the head-to-head match-up. Middlebury knew that to win the NESCAC championship the road would likely lead through Bowdoin, and I think we should all be excited for a competitive game.

RC: Previously this season, the Panthers gave Bowdoin their first tie in a 4-4 OT battle, and then lost 3-0 midway through the season. What were the differences between the games?

On Saturday, the women’s ice hockey team will face Amherst, who knocked the Polar Bears out of the NESCAC playoffs in two of the team’s last three semifinal appearances. Despite this recent history of season-ending losses at the hands of the Lady Jeffs, the Polar Bears stand a good chance of reaching the final this year. 

Bowdoin’s offense was ranked third in the NESCAC in each of the last three years, while Amherst was ranked first in 2010 and 2011 and second last season. The Polar Bears were fourth in overall defense in 2012, fifth in 2011, and fourth in 2010, while Amherst was first in all years except 2011, when they were third. The difference this year is monumental, with Bowdoin ranked first in both offense and defense. 

The last time a NESCAC team was ranked first in offense and defense was in 2010, when Amherst won the NESCAC Championship and eventually won the D-III National Championship over Norwich, 7-2. Two weekends ago, Bowdoin played a series away at Amherst, sweeping the Lady Jeffs with scores of 4-0 and 3-1. It was the first time in five years the Polar Bears had managed a sweep of Amherst in the regular season.  The Polar Bears racked up three goals in the first period during the Saturday game.

The men’s ice hockey team, hot off its highest D-III ranking in team history (No. 2), lost to Amherst at home last Friday for the first time since the Sidney J. Watson Arena was built. The team split the weekend, beating Hamilton the next day. In the team’s first game after its bye week, the Lord Jeffs got off to a quick start by scoring four goals in the first period against Steve Messina ’14. That was enough for Head Coach Terry Meagher, who switched netminders at the beginning of the second period to Max Fenkell ’15. The Polar Bears were only able to score one goal from senior captain Dan Weiniger in the period. “Goal sports are tough—the bottom line is that sometimes they go in and sometimes they don’t,” said Meagher. “I thought we played as strong a game for most of it as we’ve played all year. But if we brought close to our best game and played well, then you’ve got to tip your hat to your opponent and respect what they did.”

In a performance of “historic proportions,” the rowing team earned two medals last weekend at the annual Head of the Charles regatta, the largest two-day rowing competition in the world. The varsity women’s four finished their race as the leader of a 38-boat field, while the men’s placed fifth against 45 other teams. This is the first time that Bowdoin has every come away with a gold medal from the Head of the Charles, and the first time they have had two teams medal in the same race. On the second day, the men’s and women’s eights, in a far more competitive field, placed 33rd and 25th respectively. “It was a row of historic proportions,” said Head Coach Gil Birney. “I couldn’t be more pleased.”

When Jeff Ward stepped down this summer after 14 years as director of athletics, it fell to Tim Ryan ’98 to assume the position of interim athletics director. 

A talented baseball and football player who went to Wells High School in Maine, Ryan says he chose Bowdoin because it was “the best academic school that [he] could get into and continue to play one or both sports.” 

The baseball team swept the defending champion Tufts last weekend to clinch a spot in this year's NESCAC tournament. After previously dropping games to other NESCAC East opponents, the Polar Bears entered last weekend in a must-win scenario with a postseason tournament berth on the line.

The men's baseball team finished 3-3 after playing against NESCAC East rival Colby and non-conference Roger Williams and Brandeis over the last week. Over the six games, the team raised its in-game record for defensive errors from four to seven, compiling 18 defensive miscues in total. Before last weekend, the Polar Bears had been averaging around one and a half errors per game; that average has doubled in the past seven days.

Following commanding first-place finishes at their sectional tournament last weekend, the ultimate Frisbee teams will head to the New England regional tournament next week. Stoned Clown, the men's team, went 3-0 in Saturday's round robin play—never winning by fewer than 11 points—before beating Bates 11-5 in the finals. The women, Chaos Theory, shut out Bates 15-0 before beating Colby 15-1 to claim first.

After dealing rival Trinity its only loss in 12 games on Friday, the baseball team lost both games in Saturday's doubleheader and Tuesday's non-conference game against Husson. Bowdoin (15-11, 3-3 NESCAC) maintained second place in the NESCAC East division while allowing Trinity to clinch a spot in next month's playoffs.

The baseball team recovered from a late loss to Bates on Friday by winning three straight games—two against the Bobcats—to stay in second place in the heated NESCAC East standings. The team now boasts records of 14-8 overall and 2-1 in the NESCAC. Although Bowdoin took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning on Friday behind pitcher Christian Martin '14, Bates scored in the fifth and eighth innings, pushing them ahead by one run.

The baseball team split a doubleheader against Wesleyan last Saturday to bring its season record to 11-7. With a total of four runs scored overall between the two games, the pitchers battled to control the tempo and keep the opposing offenses off the board.

After outlasting Trinity 2-1 on Saturday, the second-seeded men's ice hockey team will take on third-ranked Middlebury tomorrow in the NESCAC semifinals. Trinity scored the first goal of the match 1:54 into the first period, but goaltender Steve Messina '14 stopped the next 31 shots to keep the Polar Bears in contention.

After winning the last two games of its regular season on the road, the men's ice hockey team will play in the NESCAC Quarterfinals tomorrow against No. 7 seeded Trinity. The Polar Bears (15-5-3, 12-3-3 NESCAC) handled No. 4 Tufts on Friday 9-2, and then held on to beat Connecticut College 6-4 the following day. Bowdoin is now 12-2-2 in its last 16 games.

After beating Wesleyan and Trinity last weekend at home, the men's ice hockey team clinched a first-round home playoff game. With two matches left to play, Bowdoin is second in the NESCAC standings behind Amherst.

Taking off at a sprinter's pace, the men's track team dominated its final home meet of the indoor season last Saturday, raising its streak of first-place finishes to three. The Bowdoin Invitational was comprised of Bowdoin, Springfield, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Tufts, and Colby. With a final score of 218.5, Bowdoin more than doubled the points of second-place Springfield, who earned only 99.

Men's basketball captain Will Hanley '12 is on pace to break multiple school records. Equally adept at offense and defense, he has high hopes for his post-college career—he's already sent game tapes to professional basketball teams in Europe. In Monday's game against Maine Maritime Academy, Hanley posted 20 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one block, but ended his 5-game streak of double-doubles. In his final game of the streak, against Maine-Presque Isle, he scored 14 points, with 16 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Like a veteran surgeon performing open-heart surgery, the field hockey team dissected its first two opponents in the NCAA D-III tournament last weekend to once again earn a spot in the Final Four. After No. 1 Bowdoin defeated the Keene State Owls in a 4-0 victory, the team trounced the talented MIT Engineers in a 3-0 regional final shutout.

Undefeated regular season? Check. NESCAC championship? Check. National championship? They are just a few games away.

Even though her field hockey team is currently in the midst of an undefeated season, has had six shutout victories over opponents, and is ranked No. 2 in the country, Head Coach Nicky Pearson is as focused as ever. "We've always got things to work on," she said.

At the USA Ultimate East New England Sectional Tournament last weekend, the men's ultimate Frisbee team, Stoned Clown, intentionally sacrificed prospective wins in order to let first year players get a chance to learn the ropes in a real game setting. The team's strategic decision to develop its new talent instead of going for wins indicates that the team is investing in its future.