The field hockey team won a record-setting match at home this past weekend in their game against Colby. The women displayed resilience and attacking prowess, scoring four goals in the second half to defeat their conference opponents 4-0.
This historic win marks a record 40th consecutive home win, dating back to 2010. The team heads into the first round of the NESCAC Championship this weekend to face Trinity, a team they barely beat in a double-overtime game in early October.
Despite controlling the first half, outshooting Colby 7-1 and holding a 9-0 edge in corners, Bowdoin was unable to break the deadlock score of 0-0. But the second half brought on a dominant 10-minute span during which the women were able to score four goals to distance themselves from the Mules. Two goals from sophomore standout Rachel Kennedy, and a goal apiece from Katie Riley ’14 and Emily McClogan ’17 contributed to the victory.
“Katie and I have been playing together for two years now and have been able to build good chemistry,” said Kennedy. “As a team we have good fluidity and discipline up top and it showed against Colby.”
The match marked the final regular season home game for the Polar Bears. Before the game, Bowdoin honored its four seniors: captains Riley and Olivia King and their classmates Molly Paduda and Lauren Schroeder. They were presented with flowers in front of the crowd as thanks for their four years of dedication to the program.
“This year, we have a very tight-knit group of girls on the squad. We know when to work hard and when to be calm,” said King. “In terms of our leadership, all four of us seniors have valuable roles on the team. We try to contribute to the team mentality and raise the level of play every practice and every game.”
Despite the record-setting performance in Brunswick, the team lost at Tufts on Tuesday to conclude their regular season third in the NESCAC with a record of 12-2 overall, 8-2 NESCAC.
Bowdoin’s high-powered offense (which ranks No. 1 in the NESCAC in shots and goals per game) ran into a brick wall against Tufts, who held them to an anemic two shots-on-goal. Before the game, Bowdoin was averaging nearly 18.6 shots-on-goal per contest. The Polar Bear defenders were nearly as effective at disrupting Tufts’ shooting, holding them to just four shots (two on-goal) but allowing one to sail past keeper Hannah Gartner ’15 with 20 minutes left in the match.
The loss to Tufts had large implications for the teams’ tournament placement. Bowdoin moved down to the third seed while Tufts moved up to the second and the Polar Bears will play Trinity (8-6, 5-5 NESCAC) as opposed to Williams (6-8, 4-6 NESCAC).
Trinity appears to be a tougher matchup. Despite a relatively lackluster .500 NESCAC win percentage, the team has only lost by one goal to the top three seeded teams: Amherst, Tufts and Bowdoin. Williams was shut out in the regular season to Bowdoin and Amherst, 4-0 and 5-0 respectively.
The Polar Bears’ quarterfinal matchup will be played at home tomorrow at 1 p.m.