With the wind howling across their faces, the Bowdoin Men's Soccer Team stood in anguish. After leading 1-0 at the half, the Bears' season had been taken from them, a championship game snatched from their grasp.
Amherst came back from the one goal deficit to score twice in the second half, leading the Jeffs to a 2-1 NESCAC semi-final victory and ending the Bears' season.
In the beginning, it seemed as if Bowdoin might pull off the upset against the top seeded Lord Jeffs. In the 35th minute, first year center-midfielder Ben Denton-Schneider played a ball off to classmate Tim Prior '11, who sent a cross to Bowdoin's all-time leading scorer Nick Figueiredo '08, finishing with a tuck inside the far post.
"In the first half we carried play," Figueiredo said. "But in the second half the wind picked up to their advantage, and there were a couple of opportunities we couldn't [capitalize on]."
The Bears went into the half, glad to be on top, but knowing they had a daunting task ahead of them.
In the 57th minute Nick Lynch was finally able to equalize for Amherst, firing a shot past Bowdoin keeper Nate Lovitz '08.
"It was frustrating because I was moving left and I was able to get my right hand on it. It was one of those that moved faster because of the turf," Lovitz said.
In the 69th minute it was Amherst first year Ian Rothkopf that put the Lord Jeffs ahead for good.
"It was ours to be won...we knew it was going to be hard, coach told us that at the half. We just couldn't get that second goal," Figueiredo said.
Lovitz expressed his disappointment at the way the season ended.
"We had a rough patch in the middle, and our season could have gone down the tube, but we picked it up. It was unfortunate we lost because we were playing out best soccer," he said.
There were some individual accomplishments that highlighted the Polar Bears' final record of 9-6-1. Figueiredo was named NESCAC Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors, and Denton-Schneider was awarded NESCAC rookie of the year. Captain Brendan Egan '08 was also named to the first team, for the second time in his Bowdoin career.
Despite the frustration of elimination, the seniors were still looking forward.
"We'll be good next year," Justin Ito-Adler '08 said. "The freshmen will contribute a lot."