The Bowdoin Women's Lacrosse team had a very successful week posting two NESCAC wins. The Polar Bears faced Wesleyan, a team ranked amongst the top twenty best in the country. Despite the torrential rain and the cold, the Polar Bears were able to defeat Wesleyan 11-9.
The Polar Bears led 5-1 at half time on Saturday behind a stellar defensive effort by Whitney Hogan '07, Courtney Welch '05 and Betsy Rose '06. Putting points on the board for Bowdoin were Brooke Nentwig '06 with two goals, and Taylor White '07, Lyndsey Colburn '08, and Bobbi Dennison '08 with one goal a piece.
Wesleyan came out strong in the second half scoring three unanswered goals, bringing them within one goal of the Polar Bears. But the Bowdoin offense was not to be quieted and overpowered the Cardinal defense scoring the next four goals. Leading the Bowdoin run was Dennison with a goal and an assist. Also contributing were Taryn King '07, Jill Steigerwald '07, and White with her second goal of the game. Late in the second half Wesleyan was able to come within two goals, but Bowdoin was able maintain control of the game behind two more goals from White. Kendall Cox had six stops in the Bowdoin victory.
The Polar Bears were again faced with some tough weather conditions on Wednesday as they headed up to Lewiston to face Bates. In the 13-9 victory over the Bobcats the Polar Bears were able to clinch a first-round home NESCAC play-off game.
Bates was able to put the first goal on the board, but the Polar Bear attack was able to answer back led by Colleen McDonald's '05 six goals. At halftime the score was 7-5 with three McDonald's goals coming in the first frame. Also scoring for Bowdoin was Grace Moore '08, who found the back of the net twice in the contest. Moore also was able to win a number of draw controls for Bowdoin which helped it maintain possession of the ball for most of the game.
In the second half Bates was able to tie the game at 8-8, but Bowdoin answered with five straight goals to regain control of the contest. This offensive flurry was led by Kate Donoghue '07 who scored twice in the second half. Juniors White, King, and Jena Davis also added goals for the Polar Bears. Kendall Cox made six saves in net for Bowdoin, behind a strong defensive unit of Brigid Burke '05, Rose, and Courtney Wagner '06.
The Polar Bears face Amherst tomorrow in a game that will decide the number two seed in NESCAC. Regardless of the results of this game, however, the team will have a home game on Sunday with opponent and game-time to be announced.
In other Bowdoin women's lacrosse news, the fan of the week, and in the running for fan of the year, is Brian Durant '05. Durant made it to Bates College on Wednesday night, despite the weather, to watch his favorite women's sports team on the Bowdoin campus in action. We salute you, Brian Durant!