Bowdoin suffered a 2-0 shutout loss against Hamilton on Saturday after tying the team during a game the night before. Without a win last weekend the team needs at least one win this weekend in its two games at Amherst to have a chance at hosting a NESCAC Championship quarterfinal game next weekend.
Head Coach Marissa O’Neil commended the team’s efforts last weekend despite the disappointing outcome.
“We didn’t feel great about the tie,” said O’Neil. “Going into Saturday’s game, we talked about how we played 65 minutes of strong hockey on Friday. Saturday we came out and did a great job.”
The Polar Bears’ performance last weekend dropped them from fourth to fifth in the NESCAC with a 5-6-3 NESCAC record (9-8-5 overall). The Hamilton Continentals—with their third conference win of the season—moved up one spot from the last place standing, which they’ve held for the past two weeks. The Continentals record now stands at 9-9-4 (3-8-3 NESCAC).
The Polar Bears netted the game’s first goal on Friday night.
About five minutes into the game, Julie Dachille ’18 hit a shot past Hamilton goalie Sam Walther.
Hamilton hit back in the third period when Steph DiPietro slid a puck through the pads of goalie Lan Crofton ’17 after carrying the puck out from behind the net.
Bowdoin had an opportunity to take the lead on a power play, but failed to score. In overtime, Crofton made a heart-stopping save to pressure the tie. Neither team was able to capitalize on its opportunities in overtime.
Crofton made 17 saves overall, while Walther stopped 21.
On Saturday, both teams opened with 20 minutes of strong skating, and despite multiple chances, failed to net any goals.
Despite the initial control the Polar Bears exerted over the Continentals in the second period, Hamilton broke out and raced down the ice in a two-on-one that culminated in Megan Fitzgerald firing the puck into the top right corner of the net.
Teal Gosselin then buried the puck with a deflected shot into the net to give the Continentals a 2-0 advantage.
Crofton made 11 saves in the game, while Beth Findley ’16 made 5 in 13:09 of play. Walther earned a shutout with 25 stops.
Bowdoin’s will travel to Amherst for a game at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
The Polar Bears NESCAC tournament seeding is dependent on the results of this weekend’s other NESCAC matches, but O’Neil hopes the team can walk away with a strong seed for the quarterfinals.
“We can end up as high as third or at least at eight,” said Coach O’Neil. “It’s going to take a great effort. They have a couple forwards who are definitely threatening--being able to shut them down one-on-one defense. Their goalie does pretty well but as we can see with the Trinity score for them [Amherst] this weekend, the puck can get passed her.”