The Bowdoin Orient

This weekend, the men’s ice hockey team will look to start their season off well with new Head Coach Jamie Dumont at the helm. Dumont replaced Terry Meagher, who coached the team for the past 33 seasons.

Dumont, however, is no stranger to the program. He began his assistant coaching career at Bowdoin in 2001, assisting in the recruitment of many All-NESCAC and All-American players until 2005 when he left to coach in Europe, in the American Junior Hockey League and at Division I Bowling Green State University before returning to Bowdoin in 2011. Upon his return, Dumont assisted Meagher in tallying 83 victories and a remarkable .681 winning percentage, as well as two NESCAC titles.

“Dumont definitely has his own style. It’s the same in some ways and different in ways. Meagher is a legacy and will always have a place in Bowdoin hockey, but coach Dumont is definitely bringing his own style this year,” said Sebastian Foster ’19. “He is very into fast-paced practices and has been a little more up tempo this year, and hopefully that leads to good results for us.”

Dumont is not the only coaching change that has been made this season—Eric Graham, former head coach at North Yarmouth Academy, was named assistant coach and is brand new to the Bowdoin program.

“He is a local guy that has done a really good job building up the North Yarmouth Academy program and has had a handle at developing college players,” Dumont said. “His handle on recruiting and networking is outstanding. He has done a really good job stepping in here and having a great relationship with our players.”

While the team is excited about its new coaching staff, the loss of key leaders of the Class of 2016—Chris Fenwick, Matt Rubinoff and Johnny Malusa—calls for new leaders to take their spots this year. However, both the coaches and players alike are confident that this void can be filled.

“We had some really good leadership and character last year from the graduating seniors,” Dumont said. “But if you are graduating some good people, you are doing some good things. The big thing for us, I think, is that those guys were really good role models and really led the way so that our seniors can adapt to that role this year.”

Likewise, the players are confident that they have prepared the team with the leadership, coaching and teamwork needed to have a successful season.

“Dumont understands the history and tradition that the hockey program was built on and that is clear in his approach,” said Camil Blanchet ’18. “As players, we are confident and excited about our first opportunity to play under him on Friday.”

This weekend, the Polar Bears will kick off their season with a double-header at home—facing Williams at 7 p.m. on Friday, followed by Middlebury at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Polar Bears hope to sweep the weekend and avenge last year’s season-opening 4-1 loss to Williams.  

“Williams is a fast, skilled and disciplined team. They are always tough to play against. We’re excited to see how we match up with them,” Blanchet said. “It should be a good measuring stick for us. Our goal is to get four points this weekend.”

Dumont plans to play many first years this weekend in order to get them accustomed to college hockey. Despite their inexperience, Dumont has high hopes for all of them in their upcoming games and the rest of the season.

“We have some really talented first years, especially on paper,” Dumont said. “We knew coming in that they would have a lot of good qualities, but the rubber hits the road now that they are playing different teams and the referee is on the ice and the clock is on.” 

“It will be a challenge for them, but we really like what we see so far,” Dumont added. “There are going to be some growing pains, just like anything else. The big thing about that first year group is [that] their outstanding coachability has been through the roof.”

Looking at the upcoming season, both Dumont and his players are ready to come out strong and battle in each game, just like they have in previous years. Dumont plans to retain the positive culture of the Bowdoin hockey team and capitalize on their past success.

“We have a really good core of leaders in our senior class that have seen what it is like to win a championship their [first] year, and they are certainly eager and ambitious to go out as champions,” Dumont said. “We have a great great nucleus of players. The juniors and seniors are eager to lead and willing to play hard for the jersey and play hard for their teammates.”

After two NCAA DIII Field Hockey Championship victories this weekend on their home field, the top-ranked Polar Bears (20-0) advanced to the national semifinals, where they will play Ursinus College tomorrow at 11 a.m. at host site Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

In Saturday afternoon’s Sweet Sixteen matchup, Bowdoin took down Keene State by a 5-1 score. It was the the second time in program history that the Bears defeated the Owls in the NCAA tournament, the first being in 2011.

Junior Kimmy Ganong’s goal off a rebound six minutes into the game gave Bowdoin an early lead. However, just four minutes later, the Owls bounced back with a goal of their own. The ball came bouncing into the circle through a pair of defenders and pushed past Clara Belitz ’17.Keene kept the score even at 1-1 for another 10 minutes by staying strong on the defensive end, denying five shots and successfully defending a pair of corners.

“I was pretty shocked that they answered right away with a shot that dribbled in,” Ganong said. “I think when that happens, we always remember to stay calm and not get worked up and remember that we have the rest of the game left to play.”

Bowdoin finally broke through at the 22:30 mark, as Ganong again found the back of the net, this time off of a broken corner feed from Kelsey Mullaney ’16. Less than two minutes later, Kelsey Bumgardner ’18 sent a rebound to the far left post, finding Liz Znamierowski ’16 for a goal. In the final four minutes of the half, Rachel Kennedy ’16 added a goal of her own, putting the Bears up 4-1 going into halftime

 “I think their response was that they were upset that they let that goal in earlier in the game, and they stepped up and responded really well,” Head Coach Nicky Pearson said.

The second half was quieter, except for the final Polar Bears goal 22 minutes in. Kennedy tallied an assist, setting up Sarah Jane Weill ’18 for the shot on goal. Bowdoin outshot the Owls 30-2 on the day and held a 12-1 advantage in penalty corners.

“Although the score was 5-1, which seems like a lot to a little, I think we could have scored a lot more goals because had so many chances.” Ganong said, “You will never know if your first shot is what decides the game, or your last shot. This is why the second half we came out strong, held them out of our defensive end and kept pressuring them.”

The Bears advanced to the quarterfinal round the next day against Wellesley, who had blanked the University of New England 3-0 on Howard Ryan Field the day before. Bowdoin faced a drastic change in the style of play of its opponents.

“Keene is more of a direct team—putting up more aerials and big balls. Wellesley was more of a small passing, game possession-type team,” said Pearson. “It was important that our defense was compact and took away things that the opposition felt comfortable doing. Making these defensive adjustments were critical.”

Kennedy gave the Bears their first goal of the game only four minutes in by successfully converting a penalty stroke—her 100th career goal. Kennedy then scored a second goal towards the end of the first half. Meredith Tibbals ’18 brought the ball inside Wellesley’s defensive 25, where she found Juliana Fiore ’18. Fiore successfully worked her way toward the end line, where she sent a pass to Kennedy at the right post for the goal. The third and final goal of the first half, and the game, came from Ganong with just seconds remaining on the clock.

“Scoring that third goal in the first half with only ten seconds left was huge.” Bumgardner said, “It was a great drive into the circle from [Mullaney] and a perfect deflection into the top left corner from Kimmy.”

Wellesley’s goal keeper, Lucy Hurlock, shut out the Polar Bears in the second half, denying ten shots and six corners. But the game had been decided in the first half, and Bowdoin emerged with a 3-0 win and a bid into the national semifinal.

We needed to want it more and we did. Both teams were fighting for their seasons and this win was a trip to the Final Four,” said Bumgardner.

Ursinus got its ticket to the semifinals with a 5-0 win over Rochester in the round of eight. If the Polar Bears advance, they will meet the winner of Middlebury—Bowdoin’s foremost NESCAC rival—versus The College of New Jersey—the team that defeated the Polar Bears in last year’s national championship game. 

“I definitely feel so confident with this team. Just from the past few weekends, finishing off the regular season undefeated, winning NESCACS, and playing our first rounds of NCAAs so well, I really feel that this team is beginning to peak at the perfect time. I don’t have any doubt that we will win,” Ganong said, “We are going into this weekend and we want to come out 2-0 with a national championship and I definitely think we can do it.”

This weekend consisted of both an impressive win and a heartbreaking loss for the Bowdoin women’s soccer team. After beating Trinity in the semifinals of the NESCAC Championship on Saturday, the team fell the very next day in a brutal battle for the crown to top-seeded Williams. The win gives Williams its seventh NESCAC title in the past 10 years.

The weekend started out with the semifinals against the Trinity College Bantams, an opponent who beat the Polar Bears earlier in the season, with a late-game goal.

“Losing to Trinity in the regular season definitely stung for us because we knew that we were the stronger team,” Sarah Wallace ’16 said, “We had a calm confidence going into the Trinity game in the NESCAC semis, and a strong desire to prove ourselves to the league.”

Bowdoin came out on top in their rematch against the Bantams. From the get-go, Bowdoin kept their control, stringing together passes and maintaining possession. Evan Fencik '17 capitalized on the team’s ball control by dribbling up the right side of the field and scoring off of a cross in the fifteenth minute. This left Bowdoin with a 1-0 advantage at the end of the first half.

“We went into the second half as if it was a new game—like it was 0-0. We knew we needed to work just as hard, if not harder,” Coach Brianne Weaver said of her team. “We knew we needed to keep the intensity and focus. We wanted to make sure we played the way we wanted to play.” Trinity came out strong in the second half, attacking at the offensive position and taking three shots, all of which Bridget McCarthy ’16 successfully saved.

The Bantam’s inability to convert on a corner kick gave Bowdoin the win. Despite Trinity outshooting Bowdoin by a 9-5 margin, the Polar Bears edged the Bantam’s 6-3 in corner kicks—bringing them to the NESCAC finals against rival Williams.

The team came out strong against Williams, eager to emerge with a win after losing to them in overtime during the regular season. They knew Sunday’s game would be a battle until the very end.

“Our main focus was to come out stronger than our opponent and set the tone before Williams was able to,” Wallace said. “We wanted to catch them on their toes, because they are a team that loses their confidence when they are scored on first.”

Bowdoin executed this game plan well at first. In the first 25 minutes of the game, it was the Polar Bears who were on the attack.

“We were the first team to get a shot off. One of our shots in the first 10 minutes of the game was just barely saved off of the goal line by a William’s defender,” Captain Rachel Brooke '16 said.

Taylor Haist '17 was behind this close shot, kicking it to Julia Patterson '19 who headed it towards the goal. The attempt on the goal was made in the first five minutes of the game, but Williams’ Tressa Palcheck saved it.

“We were successful in catching them while they were shaky and nervous, but luck was not on our side in allowing us to put it away,” Wallace said.

At the start of the second half, Bowdoin started to lose track of their positioning and Williams quickly took advantage of this. After just nine minutes, Williams’ Natalie Turner-Wyatt scored, catching the top corner of the net, giving the Ephs a 1-0 lead. The Polar Bears held them off for another 30 minutes until Kristi Kirshe doubled Williams’ lead to seal the win for Williams.

“The game did not end in our favor, but I was so proud of how hard we worked and how we came together as a team,” Wallace said. “We had a team who made it to the national finals last year on their toes for much of the game, and that is not something to take lightly.”

The team will look forward to the NCAA Championships with their first match-up against Johns Hopkins, ranked number 22 in the NCAA national DIII rankings. Hopkins also reached the Final Four last year, and happens to have a very similar game-style to Williams.

“I think the most important thing that I want to see from our team [against Hopkins] is the realization that opportunities like this are rare and that we need to make the most of it,” Brooke said. “We all want to play our best soccer for each other and I think this level of compassion for one another sets us apart from our competition.”

Bowdoin will be facing off against Johns Hopkins on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Hoboken, New Jersey.

The top-seeded field hockey team goes into the 2015 NESCAC Championship, which it is hosting this weekend, with a desire to add another championship to its list of accomplishments. The Polar Bears will start the weekend against eighth-seeded Bates in the quarterfinals.

Bowdoin views every team in the NESCAC as a tough opponent, no matter its seed.

“We always approach every game the same, regardless of our opponent,” Kelsey Mullaney ’16 said. “We focus on ourselves and what we do best.”

This season, Polar Bears have made game-to-game consistency an even larger point of emphasis than usual. They see this focus as an advantage going into the playoffs.

“We view our season as an upward trajectory with our last game being our best game of the season,” captain Kim Kahnweiler ’16 said. “If anything, this mindset calms us going into the NESCAC Championship because each game is just another game with the same goals as the last game.”

Bowdoin plans on focusing on often overlooked basics, such as first touch on the ball, correct defensive position and pass precision.The team sees these fundamental techniques as the root of any success on the field.

“We have made a point that they are not little things,” said Head Coach Nicky Pearson. “They will have a big impact during our games. In this way, we hold ourselves to a higher standard regarding these skills.”

While Bowdoin is ranked No. 1 among Division III teams in the country, the NESCAC is filled with other highly-ranked teams. Middlebury is No. 3 in the country, Tufts is No. 15, Amherst is No. 16 and Williams is No. 20.

The Polar Bears defeated all of these teams—and every other team they faced—this season, finishing the regular season with a perfect record in the NESCAC in going 10-0 against conference opponents. Despite the record, Polar Bears looks back to their regular season for not only confidence, but also to identify improvements they can make for the upcoming tournament.

“I feel incredibly excited about the team’s performance so far during the regular season. We don’t like to lose, so my mood has been pretty high,” Kahnweiler said. “What I like best about our team culture is that we leave every game, even if it was a blowout win, with a list of things to improve on. We don’t dwell on the wins for very long.”

Thanks in large part to Kahnweiler and a strong defense, Bowdoin leads the conference in fewest goals allowed per game at 0.66, permitting just 10 goals in 15 games.

Since 2011, Bowdoin has competed against Middlebury in the NESCAC Championship final every single year. However, the last time the Polar Bears beat Middlebury was in 2011. The past, however, does not affect the Bear’s confidence.

“Going into the tournament, keeping in mind our desire to win is essential,” Pearson said. “I really do think the team has a belief that they are going to win. It will come down to us playing better and wanting it more than our opponents.”

The Polar Bears play their quarterfinal game against the Bobcats tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Ryan Field.

Competing against top-ranked teams in three different events at Dartmouth, Yale and Salve Regina, Bowdoin’s sailing team had a busy and tough weekend.

 At Dartmouth on Saturday, the Bears competed in the Captain Hurst Bowl, a co-ed interconference regatta. Julia Rew ’16, Matt Lyons ’17, Jade Willey ’17, Nora Cullen ’18, Alex Vasiliou ’18, Jake Griffin ’18, Matt Kaplan ’19, and Jack Fullerton ’19 competed in the event, while alumni coach Peter Edmunds ’14 stepped in and coached the team. The Polar Bears were challenged by the cold and windy conditions but were still able to finish in 12th place out of 18 teams.

On Saturday, the temperature was in the 50s and there was a breeze from 5 to 15 knots. On Sunday, the conditions worsened, with temperatures falling below freezing and snow falling throughout the day. Despite the conditions, Bowdoin kept focus.

“There were long, oscillating shifts, and all of our teams were working on staying disciplined on the starting line and staying in phase [on the favored tack to the mark] throughout the race,” Rew said.

While not finishing in one of the top slots, the Bears were satisfied with their performance in such a competitive intersectional race. The Bears also left Dartmouth with a better understanding of where they stood and where they wanted to go.

“There were a lot of learning opportunities sailing against such a competitive fleet,” Rew said. “We were able to really work on our starting and making smart tactical decisions.”

The Yale Women’s Trophy, also this weekend, featured all of the top-tier teams in the country. Representing the Polar Bears were Erin Mullins ’16 and Olivia Diserio ’16 in the A Division and Mimi Paz ’17, Martie Ogle ’18 and Emily Salitan ’16 in the B Division. Despite the wavy and windy conditions and the high level of competition, the Bears finished strong. Mullins and Diserio finished 8th in their division, and in the B division, Paz, Ogle and Salitan finished 14th. Overall, the team placed thirteenth out of the eighteen competing teams. 

For their third event, the Polar Bears traveled to Salve Regina in Newport, Rhode Island, to compete in the New England Sloop Championships in match racing. This is the first time the Bears have qualified for this championship since 2004. Despite the windy conditions, which seemed to be a consistent obstacle throughout all three events, and stiff competition, the Bears came out strong and finished in fourth place.

“This was the first time that we have qualified for the Sloop New England’s sailed at Salve, and we ended up 4th which was an amazing score in a highly competitive event,” Rew said. 

Although Bowdoin had a rough beginning on Saturday, where they went 1-6 in their events, on Sunday going into the knockout round against the top seeded team, Brown, the Bears were able to overcome obstacles such as losing the first race and having a crewmember fall overboard in the second. In the third race, the Polar Bears were able to draw a penalty against Brown in the pre-start, and then again in the final run, which led to Bowdoin’s victory and a spot in the semifinals. Despite losing to Dartmouth 2-0 in the semifinals and then again to Yale 2-1 in the Petit Finals, the Power Bears nevertheless solidified their image as a tough team to be reckoned with among high-ranking competitors.

 “These regattas gave us motivation to work even harder during practice and really push towards the end of the season,” Rew said. “We have been really focusing on the process and improving every practice, and I think that will pay off as we head into the championship season.”

The Polar Bears are back on the water this weekend, with races at Harvard, MIT and Boston College.

The second-seeded Amherst women’s lacrosse team cut the Polar Bears’ season short with an 11-5 NESCAC quarterfinal victory this past Saturday afternoon.

This is the fifth NESCAC tournament pairing between the two schools and Amherst improved its record against Bowdoin to 3-2 in tournament play and its overall record to 15-1 record. The Polar Bears ended their season with an 8-7 record.

“The record is not indicative of how strong our team is,” said Genna Warner ’15.

Play between the two teams was relatively even. The game started out with Caroline Holliday of Amherst scoring a quick goal, netting a wrap-around two minutes into the game.

Betsy Sachs ’14 tied up the game when she took immediate advantage of an Amherst foul 18 minutes into play, successfully converting a free-position attempt.

The Lord Jeffs quickly rallied back, with Holliday once again sneaking a shot past Isabel Sippel ’15 at the inside post with 11:41 left in the half. The Polar Bears responded when Lindsay Picard ’16 beat Amherst’s goalie, Christy Forrest, only three minutes later.

“It was a low-scoring game and everybody knew we needed to pick up the pace a little bit,” Picard said of her goal. “Everyone knew in the attack that we had to keep the ball moving, and that is what we did.”

Unfortuantely, just 1:08 after Picard’s goal, Elizabeth Ludlow linked up with Priscilla Tyler to put Amherst back on top, 3-2. At 5:50, Krista Zsitvay increased Amherst’s lead to 4-2, bouncing a shot into the Bowdoin goal. Zsitvay had her second score of the day less than a minute later, receiving a good feed from Amherst’s Devin O’ Connor. The Lady Jeffs struck another blow with 11 seconds left in the half, when Rachel Passarelli dodged a couple of Bowdoin defenders before ripping a high shot into the net. The first half ended with Amherst leading 6-2.

“There was a momentum shift, and it was hard to swing it back in our favor,” Warner said of the last few minutes of the first half. “They got too many goals on us, and it was hard to get it back.”

The Polar Bears refused to give up hope at the beginning of the second half.

“We came out knowing that we needed to work our hardest and get everything we had” Picard said. “The momentum shift just made us want to work harder.”

Motivated by the four-goal halftime deficit, Taylor Wilson ’15 fired a low shot into the left side of the cage with 21:10 remaining in the game. The would-be rally was cut short when Amherst’s Mia Haughton made a move toward the net before tucking a shot inside the near post, extending the Lady Jeff’s lead to 7-3.

The Polar Bears were unfazed though, as Jordan Smith ’14 put another goal on the board at 12:55. Smith’s goal was answered by Meghan Mills of Amherst, who scored consecutive goals inside of the 10-minute mark to further increase her team’s mounting lead.

Going a perfect 13-for-13 on clears, Amherst finished the game with a 27-8 shot advantage and a 14-5 edge in ground balls. The game marked the end of the season for the Polar Bears.

“We really have been getting better this whole season, and we were just getting into our stride,” Warner said. “We played as hard as we could. Our record does not show how much hard work we’ve put into our practices and play.”

Although disappointed in the outcome of the season, the team was not let down by their effort-level or the player improvements made throughout the season.

“In our first Amherst game, transitions were not great,” Warner said. “It was a night and day difference between this game against Amherst versus our past game.”

While the loss to Amherst was disappointing, the Polar Bears face an even greater disappointment with the loss of four seniors: Molly Popolizio, Jordan Smith, Betsy Sachs and Erica Nangeroni. Each athlete was an important force helping to keep the Bears in contention this past year.

“Our seniors were amazing, they loved the team—they could either make all of us crack up, or make us really focused, calm and motivated before the game,” Warner said.“I am going to miss them a lot.”

Confident in their depth and prowess, the team and players were motivated by this disappointing season and are sure to come out even stronger and better next season.

On Saturday, the women’s tennis team topped No. 10 Middlebury in a hard-fought match, winning by a final score of 5-4.

The Polar Bears have now won three in a row after losing to Amherst and Emory two weekends ago, and are now 13-4 (6-1 NESCAC).

“Emory and Amherst—although we lost both of them—we definitely learned a lot from them and they were close matches,” said Tiffany Cheng ’16. “[The games] proved to us that we are at the top level and can compete there.”

Tomorrow, the women will host Williams at 10 a.m. The Ephs are expected to be a tough opponent, according to the team.

“Regionals usually break down to us versus Middlebury,” said Cheng. “Last year we unfortunately lost and didn’t get the chance to advance to nationals. However this year we’ve got a pretty good shot.”

Cheng mentioned that the Polar Bears’ consistency in doubles matches has improved tremendously since last year.

“In the last couple matches we’ve been able to go up 2-1 even against the top schools in doubles, which was unusual last year,” she said.

The men’s tennis team’s long ride home from Vermont felt even longer after an upsetting 7-2 loss to the No. 8 Middlebury Panthers last weekend.

Middlebury grabbed an early advantage by taking two of three doubles matches. The Polar Bears’ lone doubles win came from the No. 1 team of Sam King ’14 and Luke Trinka ’16. The No. 3 team of Chris Lord ’14 and Chase Savage ’16 fell by a heartbreaking match score of 9-8 (8-6).

During singles play, Savage saw an injury flare up within the first two points of his match. 

“Against a tough team, even the littlest things will make a difference,” Hugh Mo ’17 said of Savage’s injury.

With Savage’s quick defeat, a series of other first set losses were set into motion. King was the next one to step off the court, with a straight set defeat to the Panthers’ Brantner Jones.

Trinka followed with a convincing win at the No. 2 position (6-3 6-2), which turned out to be the Polar Bears’ only singles win for the day. At No. 1, Noah Bragg ’15 battled the Panthers’ Alex Johnston into three sets, but ultimately lost.

The Polar Bears lost against Bates on Wednesday 5-4. The team returns to action at home tomorrow  against Williams at 2 p.m. and again Sunday against Stevens.

Last weekend the men’s tennis team fought off tough competition from MIT (5-4) and Connecticut College (7-2) to extend their win streak to five, while improving their NESCAC record to a perfect 2-0.

Although the weekend ended in victory, it did not have an auspicious beginning, as the Polar Bears lost all their doubles matches against MIT. With a 3-0 deficit heading into singles play, the team needed to win at least five of the six singles in order to snatch victory. To add further drama, all the singles matches were moved indoors after sunset.

“I remember saying to the team, ‘We will be out here as long as it takes,’” said Sam King ’14, “We knew we wanted it more than these guys, we were out there for the long haul.”

While Chris Lord ’14 and Kyle Wolstencroft ’15 made quick work of their opponents—winning straight sets at the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively—the pressure mounted after Luke Trinka ’16 lost in straight sets to the Engineers’ Edwin Zhang. The match came down to  King, Chase Savage ’16 and Hugh Mo ’17.

King rallied back from a 6-0 loss in the first set with a 6-0 win in the second. He then overcame a determined opponent with a 6-2 win in the third set.

Mo split sets with his opponent,  losing the first set 6-3 and rallying back to win the second 6-3. Keeping the momentum going, he took  a convincing lead in the third set, finishing off his opponent 6-2.

“I knew the key to my success was to make it a physical battle,” Savage said of his match.

Although he won the first set in a 6-4 battle, the Engineers’ Jeffrey Bu won the second set. Savage fought off the second set loss, pulling out a resounding 6-0 win in the third set and clinching the match for the Bears with a 5-4 victory over the Engineers.

“It was more of a mental victory,” Head Coach Conor Smith. “It really was just straight belief.”

With the win against MIT still fresh in their minds, the Polar Bears faced Connecticut College on Sunday morning.

“We wanted to make sure we brought some energy,” said Savage. “On paper [Connecticut College] may not be as good, but we knew that it would be tougher than it needed to be if we sleep walked through the match.”

The Polar Bears took the lead in their doubles, going up 2-1 with wins from King and Wolstencroft at No. 1 (8-4) and Peter Davis ’14 and Eric Chien ’14 at No. 3 (8-1).

The early lead at doubles gave the Polar Bears some much needed breathing room going into the singles matches. Trinka took the first match, cruising past the Camels’ Josh Suneby in straight sets (6-2, 6-0).  They then quickly mowed down their remaining opponents with Lord, Wolstencroft, Savage and Mo tallying victories at positions 3, 4, 5 and 6, to give the Bears a 7-2 victory over the Camels.

The team returns to action this weekend with a pair of tough league matches, playing at Tufts tomorrow at 10 a.m. and at home against Amherst on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Ranked second in its division, the baseball team took two in a three-game series at Trinity last weekend. 

Bowdoin beat the Bantams on Friday 4-2. The early innings were slow, but in the top of the fourth, the Polar Bears found their way to the scoreboard with a pair of runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Trinity’s pitcher hit Sean Mullaney ’17, before Kyle LeBlanc ’14 scored the next run on a groundout to second base.

The fifth inning saw Bowdoin add to its lead with another pair of runs. Peter Cimini ’16 hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Chad Martin ’16 to move to third base and driving home Sam Canales ’15. Cole DiRoberto ’15 then nailed a two-out RBI single. Trinity struck back with a run in the fifth and threatened a ninth-inning comeback, but Henry Van Zant ’15 closed out the victory.

Pitcher Erik Jacobsen ’15 tossed seven impressive innings, scattering six hits and striking out a pair for his second win of the year.

Saturday’s doubleheader started with a 6-0 shutout of the Bantams. Bowdoin starter Harry Ridge ’16 threw a strong six innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. Van Zant followed with a perfect inning of his own, striking out the side.

An error in the top of the second by the Bantam’s shortstop allowed shortstop Aaron Rosen ’15 to score. Three innings later, Bowdoin scored a few to finish the fifth inning with a 4-0 lead.

The Polar Bears found their last three runs in the top of the seventh. Rosen doubled with the bases loaded, plating Mullaney and Jacobsen, before a DiRoberto hit scored another run. This game ended with a 6-0 score, giving Bowdoin a 2-0 lead in the series.

Bowdoin’s good fortune ran out in the third game. Unlike the first two games of the series, Trinity scored first in the bottom of the fourth. The Bantams plated three more in the sixth inning, giving Trinity a 4-0. Bowdoin didn’t get on the scoreboard until the top of the eighth. Chris Cameron ’15 came off the bench with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch and scoring on a Mullaney single.

“Cameron sparked our rally,” Rosen said, “One of the bigger highlights in the series, for sure.”

With one out left, back-to-back hits by Rosen and Martin brought the score to within one, but Bowdoin’s comeback was thwarted when the game was called due to rain.

“Coach [Mike Connolly] stressed that when you get ahead of a team, especially conference teams, you can’t think about previous games already won,” Mullaney said.

This weekend the Polar Bears face off against Bates, at Bowdoin on Friday at noon. They then head to Lewiston on Saturday to play a double header.  The first game starts at 2:30 p.m. and the second at 4 p.m.

The men’s hockey team (14-8-2) (9-8-1 NESCAC) took to the road last weekend for their final two regular season games, beating Connecticut College 5-1 and falling to Tufts 4-3. The Polar Bears finish fifth in the NESCAC and will play in a NESCAC quarterfinal matchup at Middlebury at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

Their seeding this year is the team’s lowest since the 2010-2011 season, when the Polar Bears won the NESCAC tournament but vacated the trophy in the aftermath of a hazing incident.

The team had no trouble decimating Connecticut College (9-13-2) (8-9-1 NESCAC) last Friday. Colin Downey ’14 scored a quick goal at 7:25 into regulation—his 19th of the season. Although the Camels’ Zach Shapiro buried a wrist shot from the left point at the 13:27 mark, Bowdoin responded with  a goal from Kendall Culbertson ’17 just two minutes later, ending the first period 2-1 in the Bears’ advantage.

The quiet of the second was broken with 1:26 left. The power play yielded a shot on goal by Bowdoin’s Zach Kokosa ’17, which was then rebounded by Culbertson, who stuffed the puck into the net, giving the Bears a 3-1 lead. It was  junior John McGinnis’ breakaway with just 10 seconds left in the second period that gave Bowdoin an insurance goal, heading into the third with a commanding 4-1 lead. Joseph Lace ’17 rounded out scoring for the Bears with 12 seconds left in the game.

The team’s momentum continued into the start of the Tufts game. Mitch Barrington ’17 put one on the board just 35 seconds into the game by receiving a feed in the slot from Downey, where he then wristed the puck to the right side. However, Tufts responded quickly with a tap-in score by Kyle Gallegos, leaving the first period in a 1-1 tie.

During the second period Bowdoin capitalized on a pair of complementary penalties when Barrington fired a pass cross-ice, which Kyle Lockwood ’14 received and shot to score the Bears’ second goal with a slapshot at the 12:30 mark. The Jumbos equalized again with Patrick Lackey’s goal just a minute later. McGinnis then snaked through the Tufts’ defense and wristed a shot from the left circle to the opposite corner at the 10:40 mark. But Tufts answered yet again just two minutes later with a score off a rebound. The see-saw action  ended with Tufts’ only lead of the game when the Jumbos’ Matt Pugh found Stewart Bell in the neutral zone, where he launched a shot that found the five hole.

“We got off to a lead in both games,” said Head Coach Terry Meagher. “The old sports cliché: Take it moment by moment and stay in the moment. The third period at Tufts we felt a little bit of pressure with it tied.”

Tomorrow’s quarterfinal against Middlebury will mark the start of Bowdoin’s defense of the NESCAC title.

“We really want to defend our title—we have had a hard time this year establishing our identity, our swagger,” said McGinnis. “We have been pretty inconsistent. As long as we have all 24 guys every game and play the full 60 minutes, we can definitely successfully [defend it].”

Despite having its doubleheader pushed back a day due to the snowstorm last weekend, the Bowdoin women’s ice hockey team still made a seven-hour trek to Hamilton College, breezing to a 3-1 victory over the Continentals Saturday night before falling 4-1 on Sunday.

The Polar Bears came out strong on Saturday when Maddie Baird ’15 put Bowdoin on the scoreboard with the team’s first shot on goal. It was Baird’s first goal of the season.

“This was definitely a confidence booster,” Jessica Bowen ’17 said. “We immediately thought that this goalie was letting things go and we just wanted to put anything we could on net.”

The women’s hockey team faced off against Middlebury­—the team it beat in last year’s NESCAC finals—this past weekend. Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself. The Bears left the Panthers’ home turf with a loss on Friday and a tie on Saturday.

On Friday, the Bears dominated offensively for most of the first period. However, the second period was a different story. In less than two minutes, Middlebury was able score three quick backdoor goals.

“I think the first game we were pretty nervous knowing how good Middlebury is,” said captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15. “We came out strong during the first period in the first game, but it was during the second period when we kind of let down and let them take control.”

For the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, hopes ran high at the University of Southern Maine this past weekend. Both teams competed in the NCAA Regional Championships, where a strong finish could have improved their respective rankings and ensure each team a bid for the National Championships. Though the teams fell a bit short of expectations—the men were just one place shy of finishing in a position to earn a bid to Nationals—Head Coach Peter Slovenski said that the Polar Bears have much to be proud of.

The women’s team—originally seeded 14th in the New England regional polls—finished the competition in 11th place.“Four of the women’s team runners ran personal best times. They took advantage of the big race atmosphere and used the crowd to help them run their best,” said Slovenski. Runners who achieved personal records included Lucy Skinner ’16, who finished ninth with a time of (21:35.23), which shattered her previous best time by a full 60 seconds, and Brenna Fischer ’15, who beat her previous best by 20 seconds, turning  in a time of 23:42.02. First years Gillian Kramer and Caroline Corban also ran personal best races, finishing with times of 23:42.02 and 23:30.12, respectively.Skinner started off at 40th place in the first mile, but moved up to 23rd by the end of the second.  She shot  up to fourth place in mile three to end in ninth overall.“Our coach does a good job at making sure we peak at the right time,” said Skinner. “Also, my teammates were really supportive and a lot of people were cheering. It just all came together”“Lucy showed the best composure,” Slovenski added. “She stayed relaxed and accelerated throughout the race. It’s hard to pass other runners in high level races, but she passed 14 all-star runners in the final two miles.”Senior captain Madelena Rizzo was another standout; her time of 22:14:04 was the second fastest posted by a Polar Bear and earned her 32nd place in the meet. Rizzo and Skinner both earned places on the All-New England team and Skinner’s personal best was enough to qualify her for the NCAA National Championship in Indiana.“Our coach does a good job at making sure we peak at the right time. Also my teammates were really supportive and a lot of people were cheering. It just all came together”Coach Slovenski said another contributor to Skinner’s success was the ease with which she approached the race.“Lucy showed the best composure. She stayed relaxed and accelerated throughout the race,” Slovenski said. “It’s hard to pass other runners in high level races, but she passed 14 all-star runners in the final two miles.”

The men’s team was seeded fifth but ended the day in seventh place.“Some other teams did a better job of peaking,” Slovenski said. “We ran pretty well, but we didn’t have a great peak at the regional as we usually do”Captain Sam Seekins ’14 agreed with Slovenski.“We were hoping to be at least top five to qualify for nationals…Enough guys on the team had an off day to where we ended up being edged off by Colby and Bates, both of whom we had beaten earlier in the season, but they unfortunately beat us in the most important race,” he said.Despite the team-wide disappointment, the men still enjoyed some successes at the meet. For example,  captain Coby Horowitz ’14, Nick Saba ’14 and Seekins all achieved all-New England team honors.Horowitz, the team’s top runner, finished fourth in the 8K with a time of 24:42:18. He ran most of the race in eighth position at the rear of the front pack. He moved up to sixth with a mile to go and passed two more runners to finish in fourth place.Other Bowdoin runners found themselves in the top 60. Seekins placed 28th, turning in a time of 25:21:81; Saba was 34th (25:30:81), and Kevin Hoose ’15 placed 55th (26:00:15) with Greg Talpey ’14 close behind at 56th (26:00:44).Horowitz will join Skinner at the NCAA Championship at Hanover College in Indiana tomorrow.

This past Saturday at Harkness State Park in Connecticut, the men’s and women’s cross country teams faced tough competition at the 2013 NESCAC Championship. The flatness and quickness of the course, which runs around the grounds of the Harkness mansion, affected both teams.

The men placed fourth despite competing against six of the top ten nationally-ranked teams.

“It was a fast course that we thought would play to our advantage, but it kind of didn’t work out that way,” said captain Coby Horowitz ‘14.Throughout the better part of the race, Bowdoin runners kept pace with their competitors from Middlebury, Bates and Tufts.  At the third mile, Bowdoin runners started to fall behind.

The volleyball team went 2-1 at the Hall of Fame Invitational last weekend. Hosted by Mount Holyoke, the Invitational allows New England teams the opportunity to compete in out-of-conference match play.

 “What [this tournament] does is force top teams that don’t usually play each other to come into head-to-head competition to see who truly is the stronger team,” said Head Coach Karen Corey.

Bowdoin played matches against Bridgewater State, Wellesley College and Wheaton College, all New England squads that do not compete in the NESCAC.

Over the past three years, the field hockey team has made a habit of finding its way to the very top of the D-III rankings.

Head Coach Nicky Pearson still doesn’t take any game lightly—especially in the intensely competitive NESCAC.

Despite having not given up a goal to Connecticut College in the past two seasons, the team refused to look past the Camels.