After facing off in a two-game series against Williams, the women's ice hockey team swept the Ephs to move to third place in the NESCAC last weekend.
No. 3 Bowdoin (8-7-3, 6-4-0 NESCAC) beat No. 5 Williams (9-9-0, 5-5-0 NESCAC) 4-2 on Friday and 3-0 on Saturday, with Kayte Holtz '13 scoring go-ahead goals in the final period both days.
This series featured a face-off between former Bowdoin teammates—Bowdoin's coach Marissa O'Neil '05 and Williams' coach Meghan Gillis '07, and was the first time the two head coaches faced each other in the rink. Both O'Neil and Gillis "enjoyed decorated playing careers at Bowdoin," according the athletic department's website.
The team sought to change its luck following close losses to Middlebury the previous week, but O'Neil was determined to keep the team's strategy consistent.
"Coming into the weekend against Williams we weren't looking to change anything with our game plan, but rather to continue to execute in both ends and capitalize on scoring chances," said O'Neil.
Bowdoin struck first on Friday when captain Dominique Lozzi '12 got the puck past Williams goaltender Chloe Billadeau eight minutes into the opening period. Soon after, Williams took control of a loose puck and snuck it past netminder Tara Connolly '13 to even the score.
After Williams scored on a one-timer halfway through the second period, momentum shifted in the third period thanks to the coordinated offensive efforts of Kim Tess-Wanat '13 and Holtz. Holtz crashed the goal, forcing the goaltender to deflect a hard shot to Tess-Wanat, who scored the rebound to tie the game.
Holtz then scored the go-ahead goal 11 minutes into the final period, and netted another puck to seal the win—and the hat trick—off a pass from Tess-Wanat.
Saturday's game was a grinding one, in which neither team was able to score until late in the game. In the third period, Bowdoin's offense erupted with three goals in under four minutes to sweep the series against the Ephs. Holtz found the back of the net again, while Mallory Andrews '14 and Chelsea MacNeil '15 scored for the first time in the series.
Bowdoin out-shot Williams 66-37 in the series and was 2-13 in Power Play conversions, compared to a 0-7 result for Williams. Connolly saved 18 of 20 shots in the first game, while Kayla Lessard '13 posted a clean sheet of 15 saves in the second. Billadeau saved 55 of 62 shots for Williams.
Holtz was named NESCAC Player of the Week for her weekend performance, her second time garnering the award this season after making the All-NESCAC First Team last year.
The NESCAC has been remarkably competitive this season, with five teams separated by two points prior to last Saturday's play.
"There has never been so much parity in the NESCAC as there is this year," said O'Neil.
O'Neil said that much of Bowdoin's success this season can be attributed to the team's balanced attack and strong goalies.
"We are solid in every position, our goalies have done a tremendous job, and the contributions made by our forwards in the defensive end and the defensemen in the offensive zone have gotten us to where we are now," she said.
This team compares very well to last year's squad that made it to the NESCAC semifinals, and yet O'Neil noted this year's is more resilient.
"We had a long month of games in January, and though we ended up going 7-4-1, we didn't play as well as we hoped in some of the games," she said. "The players have been mentally and physically challenged over the course of the season and have always responded as a team, not 23 individuals."
Bowdoin will host Trinity tonight at 7 p.m. and tomorrow at 3 p.m. The two teams enter the weekend with identical records in NESCAC play, and this series will act as a last-chance tune-up for both of them. The Bantams and the Polar Bears will both play No. 1 Amherst (15-3-0, 9-1-0 NESCAC) in the final weeks of the season.