After a nail-biting loss in overtime against Wesleyan during the regular season, the third-seeded Polar Bears avenged themselves against the sixth-seeded Cardinals this past Saturday on their own turf. The win over the Cardinals vaulted Bowdoin into the semifinal round of the NESCAC playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Going into the postseason, Bowdoin had racked up six NESCAC wins—with narrow wins over tough opponents such as Williams, Middlebury, Trinity and Bates—making the team a frontrunner entering the NESCAC tournament.
“We had some good wins and started playing very well and carried that momentum through,” said Head Coach Jason Archbell about regular season play. “The overtime win against Middlebury was big, as well as the win against Bates. These two wins against two particularly good teams, who were in the top 10, were key. We just started clicking and connecting, and that’s important.”
The Polar Bears came in strong in the first quarter by starting the game with a goal by Daniel Buckman ’18 just 50 seconds in. The Cardinals quickly answered with a goal less than a minute later, evening the score.
The first quarter continued with multiple shots on goal by Sam Carlin ’19, Buckman, Clayton Wright ’19, Alex Osgood ’17, Matthew Crowell ’18 and Sean Offner ’16. Success came for Bowdoin when Brett Kujala ’17 scored off an assist from Shawn Daly ’18, putting the Bears once again in the lead.
Following Kujala’s goal, Daly scored back-to-back goals giving Bowdoin a 4-1 edge over Wesleyan. The Cardinals would not, however, go quietly. In the last four minutes of the quarter, they scored two goals to end the first quarter with a tight score of 4-3.
The second quarter started off with a back-and-forth as the ball seesawed between the Cardinals and Polar Bears. Bowdoin struck first when Crowell found the back of the net three minutes in. After a goal by the Cardinals, the Polar Bears went on a three-goal surge, with a pair of goals from Kujala and one from Wright. Despite continued attempts on goal from both sides, Wesleyan was able to find the back of net twice—cutting the Bowdoin lead to 8-6 going into halftime.
The second half was tight, with both teams taking many shots on net.
“The second half was more of a defensive battle,” Archbell said. “Both teams were adjusting, and we had some shots on goal but just didn’t sink them.”
Peter Mumford ’17 made a number of outstanding saves in the second half, making the difference and allowing the Bears to maintain their lead.
“Mumford has been playing really well and played well the entire game. He really stepped it up,” said Archbell.
The game remained tight when Wesleyan scored a pair of goals, while Osgood added another goal, leaving Bowdoin with a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
The last quarter was a battle, but the Polar Bears proved resilient with a strong defensive line and an aggressive offense that produced many tough shots on goal. With only 2:56 left in the game, Kujala snuck another one in the net, leaving the score at 10-8 and giving the Polar Bears an insurance goal and a ticket to the NESCAC semifinals.
Bowdoin will face off against Middlebury this weekend. Earlier in their regular season matchup, the Polar Bears shut out the Panthers in overtime.
“Middlebury is very fundamental—there is nothing particularly flashy about them,” said Daly. “However, there are also no big strengths or big weaknesses. We have to go out strong and be very aggressive.”
After a successful season, the Polar Bears are looking forward to nothing less than a NESCAC title.
Bowdoin will play against Middlebury tomorrow in the NESCAC semifinals at Tufts at 3 p.m.