The Bowdoin women’s lacrosse team (7-8, 2-8 NESCAC) failed to qualify for NESCAC tournament play for the first time since 2009 after falling to Tufts (9-6, 5-5 NESCAC) 17-8 in the team’s final regular season game on Wednesday. It’s only the second time that Bowdoin will miss the tournament in the NESCAC’s fifteen year history.
Going into Wednesday night, Bowdoin needed a win and a Williams loss (5-10, 2-8 NESCAC) to surpass the Ephs in the NESCAC and grab the eighth and final spot in the tournament. Though Williams lost to Middlebury (14-1, 9-1 NESCAC) in overtime, the Polar Bears were unable to capitalize on their opportunity.
Bowdoin was on its heels from the start, conceding the first five goals of the game. The teams entered the locker room at the half with a 12-2 Tufts advantage.
Though it is a disappointing end to the season, it is worth noting that the NESCAC is extremely competitive this year, with seven teams ranked in the top 20 nationwide.
“Every NESCAC game is a battle,” said head coach Liz Grote. “It makes it exciting… every day you know you need to bring your best game.”
Despite little success in conference play, the team has produced several positive results down the stretch after a difficult start to the season. The Polar Bears’ two conference wins both came at home earlier this month. The first was a back-and-forth 14-12 game against Connecticut College on April 9 and the second was an equally thrilling 11-10 victory over Wesleyan on April 16.
The team also brought the intensity on Senior Day this past Saturday, as Bowdoin crushed Wheaton College 16-3 for of its most convincing wins of the seasons.
“The win against Wheaton this weekend was an absolute, complete game,” said Grote. “That was satisfying, to see the efforts that the team put in that week in practice to really pay off and head into the Tufts game on Wednesday.”
Captain Sophie Janes ’16 says that the team had recently been working most on getting the basics down—passing, catching, ensuring solid 1-v-1 defense, making the right cuts and seeing open space—rather than players individually working to fulfill their own goals.
Janes also noted that the 12-9 loss to Trinity on April 2 was a key game in helping develop the team towards the end of the season.
“We didn’t beat Trinity, but we played very well against them,” said Janes. “I think that was kind of the turning point in our season, in regaining confidence, knowing we can really challenge other very strong teams.”
Unfortunately, the women have had many injuries throughout the season. However, this has given the first years and younger players the opportunity to step up into those roles. Janes noted a key first year has been Natalie Rudin ’19 in the midfield, who has risen to the occasion tremendously.
In addition, captains Emma Beecher ’16, Lindsay Picard ’16, Megan O’Connor ’16 and Janes have been some of the team’s most consistent performers. Janes also credited Mettler Growney ’17 on attack for always bringing the intensity and energy needed and Kayli Weiss ’18 and Erin Morrissey ’19 for staying strong in goal.
“I would say our attack as a unit has been one of the most consistent parts of the game—the pressure that our attack puts on the other team when we don’t have the ball,” said Grote.
One of the team’s main goals recently was increasing its shooting percentage, and it has had success in this category of late. Against Wheaton, for example, Bowdoin scored 16 goals on 29 shots.