Sam White ’15 scored late in Bowdoin’s NESCAC quarterfinal game to upset the hosting Ephs 2-1 on Saturday in a wild game.
White scored from 25 yards out with a shot into the left corner in the 79th minute to give the Polar Bears the lead. It was White’s team-leading fifth goal of the season.
After missing the last two games due to injury, White scoreed his second game-winner of the year and earned Co-NESCAC Player of the Week honors.
The victory was the Polar Bear’ first win over Williams in postseason play in six tries, dating back to 1988. With the win, the team advances to its second straight NESCAC semifinal.
“We knew that it was win or go home so we were excited to just get out there and play,” said captain Eric Goitia ’15.
The No. 6 seed Polar Bears upset of No. 3 seed Williams was not the only surprise in NESCAC soccer last weekend. No. 8 seed Connecticut College beat top seeded Tufts 2-1, meaning that Amherst is the top remaining seed and will host the remainder of the tournament this weekend.
Tufts had lost only one game all season prior to Saturday and had yet to lose a conference match. Conn. College’s win puts the Camels into their first ever NESCAC tournament semifinal.
“I really think we played pretty well in all facets of the game,” said Head Coach Scott Wiercinski. “I thought in the first half we didn’t do much to generate a whole lot of offense, but at the same time our defense was really good and we didn’t give up a whole lot of chances in the first half.”
In the 48th minute, Nabil Odulate ’16 drove home Bowdoin’s first goal following a corner kick. The goal was Odulate’s first of the year. The team conceded a goal just five minutes later.
“It was a little disappointing that after we scored our first goal we gave up the tying goal quickly thereafter,” Wiercinski said. “But they are a really good team. They really came at us after we scored the goal and were really aggressive.”
“I do think we were able to settle down in some ways after they scored. I think we did a really good job of just getting back at it and passing the ball and moving well,” he said.
The Polar Bears outshot the Ephs 13 to eight and had twice as many shots on goal.
All of Bowdoin’s shots on goal came in the second half. The Polar Bears also held a slight 7-6 edge in corner kicks.
“I think we came together well in the second half and started to create a lot of dangerous opportunities,” Goitia said.
The team faces Middlebury at Amherst on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. With a win, the Polar Bears would advance to their first NESCAC final since 2010. If the team wins the NESCAC tournament will recieve an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which the team also has not reached since 2010.
Last year’s team failed to recieve an at-large bid after losing a heartbreaking double overtime game to eventual NCAA quarterfinalist Amherst.