Even though the women’s lacrosse team lost its first game last week, Bowdoin outscored its opponents 39-26 over three games. Despite losing to an unbeaten Trinity 13-5 on Saturday, the team rebounded to defeat Endicott 14-8 the following day. The ninth-ranked Polar Bears suffered just their second loss of the season, but a mid-week victory against the University of Southern Maine (USM) brought the team’s record to 8-2 overall, 5-2 in NESCAC play.
Captain Carolyn Gorajek ’13 and Tara Connolly ’13 both made it into Bowdoin’s record books on Sunday in the win against Endicott. Gorajek, only two points from breaking the school’s career point mark of 203 set by Adrienne Gratry ’00, recorded four points in the match and surpassed the previous record with 205 career points. Connolly also had an impressive performance against the Gulls, recording six saves on her way to winning her 40th career match. With this win Connolly tied the mark set by Steph Collins-Finn ’09.
“My record speaks to the success of the program over the past four years,” says Connolly. “It was nice that I came in as a freshman and could begin playing right away. I feel as though I have grown a lot as a player over these past four seasons.”
The match against Trinity was a high-energy contest that saw the Polar Bears take the lead with a goal from Jordan Smith ’14 before allowing seven uncontested goals to the Bantams. Betsy Sachs ’14 netted one more in the first half before Trinity’s attackers surged again to extend the lead to 13-3.
“We knew we were going to have a really difficult game against Trinity and that it would really test how we worked together as a team,” said Sachs. “It was really good to know that our team kept fighting the whole game even though we were down by a few goals.”
Sachs has enjoyed a prolific season so far, recording 17 points in just eight games. As one of the only naturally left-handed attackers in the league, Sachs poses a different threat than most squads are used to.
“I am very fortunate to have teammates that know how I play as a lefty and can set me up in a way that will put me in the best position to score,” Sachs said.
The match against Endicott on Sunday was a good opportunity for the team to find their feet again. Smith and Gorajek each netted a team-high three goals en route to the 14-8 victory.
Head Coach Liz Grote explained that the main area of improvement for her players was in cutting the amount of turnovers they allowed.
“We had too many turnovers against Trinity and it really affected the flow of the game for us,” said Grote. “It was nice having a game after Trinity—we rebounded very well during Endicott and only suffered a handful of turnovers.”
Grote said she is confident in her team moving forward.
“After losing so many starting players last year the expectations at the beginning of the season were open,” she said. “We were lucky to have the ability to start fresh and really utilize our player’s strengths. We currently have a lot of depth on the squad and going forward I would love to maintain that depth. Later in the season it will prove an important tool in outlasting other teams.”
The team hosted USM in a midweek non-conference contest on Wednesday, swinging out to a 5-0 lead and scoring 13 goals in the first half to blow out USM, 20-5. Megan O’Connor ’16 and Mackenzie Schleicher ’14 diced up USM’s defense for four goals each. Connolly and Isabel Sippel ’15 split the time in goal, and the win pushed Connolly to 41 career victories.
Bowdoin has another important slate of games this coming week, travelling to Wesleyan on Saturday and then facing Colby at home on Tuesday.
“I think we are still in a really good place going forward,” said Connolly. “Our two losses so far this season have been to two of the best teams in the nation right now. I know we have the ability to improve and the quality to compete later in the season.”
As the squad prepares for the upcoming week of action, Grote is focused on all aspects of the Polar Bear’s game.
“For this weekend we will focus on being more dynamic attacking wise and getting quality shots on goal,” she said. “Defensively, we need to lock down on other teams offenses and make them work for every shot.”