On Saturday , the sixth-ranked Bowdoin Women's Lacrosse team traveled down to Amherst, Massachusetts, to face the third-ranked and high socked Lord Jeffs of Amherst College.
Taylor White '07 started off the scoring giving Bowdoin the 1-0 lead, but Amherst was able to answer with four consecutive goals.
White was able to find the back of the net for the second time in the half, but Amherst again answered with a goal, giving it a 5-1 lead at half.
Inspired by a half-time speech and a lot of stick slapping, the Bowdoin defense clamped down, allowing only two goals in the second half with great efforts from Courtney Wagner '06, Whitney Hogan '07, Betsy Rose '06, and Brigid Burke '05.
Despite the effort from the defense, with just under seven minutes to play Amherst led 7-3. It was at this point that the Bowdoin attack started dominating the Amherst defense. Both Kate Donoghue '07 and Bobbi Dennison '08 were able to score on free positions to start the Bowdoin drive. The Polar Bears came up with some big draws and the defense forced an Amherst turnover that resulted in a goal by Colleen McDonald '05, bringing the Polar Bears to within one.
It was White that would finish the scoring in regulation with 56 seconds to play. Kendall Cox '05 made a pointblank save with just seconds left to force the game into overtime.
In overtime, Bowdoin was able to fight off taunts from the Amherst parents (yes, parents) and put the game away with a two goal effort from Donoghue and another goal from White. Cox continued her stellar play and stuffed Amherst player Ashley Harmeling twice in the overtime 10-7 victory.
Coach Liz Grote celebrated the play of Burke and Cox with a Bayside split of the game ball. However, the real story came as Wagner was injured trying to cut the ball in half on the bus. Luckily for the Polar Bears, Megan Rombalski was able to stop the bleeding using only the tools available on the bus.
After the victory, Donoghue said, "We're still hungry." After an extensive tailgate, Donoghue rescinded her statement and said, "I will be hungry again tomorrow."
The Polar Bears headed back up to Brunswick to play in the first round of the NESCAC tournament and enjoy their next course (insert pun) of the Cardinals of Wesleyan. Brooke Nentwig '06 started off the scoring for the Polar Bears and proceeded to lead the Bowdoin attack with a four goal game.
Also scoring in the half were Donoghue with a pair of goals, McDonald, and Lyndsey Colburn '08. The Polar Bears led 5-2 at halftime and put away any hopes the Cardinals had of victory with five goals within the first seven minutes of the second half.
Leading this effort were McDonald, Nentwig (with a pair of goals) Taryn King '07, and Courtney Welch '05.
McDonald, Nentwig, and Jena Davis '06 rounded up the scoring for Bowdoin giving them the 13-6 victory. Grace Moore '08 also had a great game shutting Wesleyan's leading scorer the entire game.
Cox made a season high 14 saves in the victory for the Polar Bears, and Marissa O'Neil '05 was able to make one great snag as ball girl for the home team.
After such a successful weekend, the Polar Bears earned the number four ranking in the latest national polls.
In addition, senior goalie Kendall "we're kind of a big deal" Cox was recognized by the NESCAC as a huge deal, receiving the honor of NESCAC player of the week for her outstanding performance in net.
Bowdoin was also recognized on the laxpower website forum.
Bowdoin heads to Middlebury for the NESCAC semi-finals and a second helping (insert pun) of the Lord Jeffs on Saturday, where this great team hopes to extend its season.