courtesy of Brian Beard/Bowdoin Athletics

Speaking with women’s hockey players, it’s difficult to tell that the team lost to Amherst College this weekend in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the loss, Bowdoin outshot Amherst by an impressive 36-23. The high shot volume, however, was not enough to best the rock-solid performance from Amherst’s goalie.

Despite their loss, team members felt proud of their season and were happy to be back on the ice again.

“All of us not having played competitive hockey for a year made us want to go into the season putting everything we can out there and have as much fun as possible while doing as well as we could,” forward Angelina Joyce ’22 said.

Even after not playing together as a team for over a year, the players attempted to maintain momentum by meeting together over Zoom. This included a series of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) workshops over the 2020-21 year.

Team manager Emma Adrain ’21 thought that the virtual DEI workshops were paramount in building harmony within the team and establishing team values.

“In order to be a good teammate you need to be a good person,” Adrain said. “One of our goals for the season was to play for each other.”

While Adrain wished the team were able to play a complete season last winter, she feels that a lack of games only fueled the team’s desire to compete in the current season.

“I want to take something positive out of [Covid-19],” Adrain said. “Even though it was really sad to not be together in person it gave us a new perspective on ourselves and how much we value each other. We were really grateful to be back.”

Forward Izzy Stoddard ’21 shared a similar sentiment.

“The opportunity to take time off last year, with the support of our coach, gave us all some time to really mature and find ourselves,” Stoddard said. “I found it really impactful when we finally came back together as a team.”

Stoddard was especially excited about bringing home the Codfish Bowl over Thanksgiving break, as this was her first win in  this tournament in her career at Bowdoin.

From statement victories to late-game goals, there were a number of moments that stood out to the members of the women’s ice hockey team. Yet, for forward Brett Stoddard ’23, her favorite moment of the year was rather straightforward.

“Beating Colby,” Stoddard said.