This weekend the field hockey team will take the long bus ride down to New Jersey for its second-round NCAA D-III tournament game. Though they received an at-large bid to the tournament, the Polar Bears were still seeded high enough to receive a first-round bye, and tomorrow they will take on New Paltz State, which defeated William Smith on Wednesday.
Bowdoin hopes to rebound from a tough loss in the NESCAC finals to the national No. 3 Middlebury, after defeating Tufts in the semifinals. Avenging a 1-0 loss to Tufts in the team’s final regular season game two weeks earlier, Bowdoin put together an impressive 4-2 victory against the Jumbos last Saturday.
The team started out strong, putting pressure on Tufts goalie Brianna Keenan. After forward Emily Simonton ’15 blasted two on-goal shots against Keenan, Colleen Finnerty ’15 fired a shot into the lower left corner, giving Bowdoin the lead 22 minutes into the game. The assist went to Kelsey Mullaney ’16, her first of the season. The Jumbos had one good chance to tie it up before the half ended, but goalie Hannah Gartner ’15 was able to make the save.
The second half featured far more excitement, especially after Tufts scored to tie the game at 1-1. Gartner made the first save off a penalty corner, but a long rebound was slotted between defenders and into the net.
But the veteran Bowdoin squad didn’t panic, and they took the lead exactly four minutes later on a solo effort by Adrienne O’Donnell ’15. Just her third goal of the year, O’Donnell got on the end of a through-ball, got around Keenan, and was able to earn enough space from a recovering Tufts defender to finish off the move for the score.
Soon after, Tufts evened the score for the second time that afternoon, capitalizing on another penalty corner to tie the game in the 56th minute. Only seven minutes later, the Polar Bears recaptured the lead—this time for good. Captain Katie Riley ’14 finished off a penalty corner to score her 15th goal of the season. To protect the lead, Kimmy Ganong ’17 scored for the first time since late September to close out the game for Bowdoin.
On Sunday, the women faced the tournament’s No. 4 seed, Middlebury, in the conference finals. The Panthers came into the game fresh off an upset of top-seeded Amherst, who ended up not qualifying for the NCAA tournament as a result. The two teams had not met since September 21, when Bowdoin defeated the visiting Panthers 4-2.
The Polar Bears got off to a strong start this time around, scoring twice in the opening seven minutes through efforts by Rachel Kennedy ’16 and Simonton. But Middlebury proved their resilience when Bridget Instrum scored two for the Panthers to tie it up before half.
Riley was quick to respond for the Polar Bears coming out of the half, scoring an unassisted goal on a long shot from the right side to restore her team’s lead. And with 28 minutes left in regulation, Finnerty converted a penalty stroke to restore Bowdoin’s advantage. Things looked good for the Polar Bears, who were holding a two-goal lead with less than 30 minutes to play.
But it was not to be for Bowdoin. Middlebury scored in the 60th and 62nd minutes to send the game into overtime, in which the Panthers rode the momentum home with a game-ending goal just two minutes into overtime.
Head Coach Nicky Pearson was predictably disappointed with her team’s loss, but said she has already switched her focus to the upcoming NCAA games.
“We made a commitment to learn from it, and to use it to make us a stronger team,” she said. “We have to take the good things from that game, and learn from our mistakes to make ourselves a better team for this next phase of the season.”
Twenty-four teams received bids to the D-III field hockey tournament, and the top eight earned first-round byes. Also in Bowdoin’s regional bracket is No. 1 Montclair State, the tournament hosts, who will play Mount Holyoke tomorrow. The regional finals will take place on Sunday, when the remaining teams will fight for a chance to travel to Virginia Beach, Va., next weekend for the D-III Final Four. The Polar Bears, who earlier this year knocked NCAA defending-champions Tufts out of the NESCAC tournament, will look to win their fourth national title since 2007, and first since 2010.
“We’re focusing entirely on Saturday’s game right now,” said Pearson. “We can’t afford to underestimate our first opponent.”