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.