On Saturday, defending NESCAC champion Bowdoin (11-4, 6-4 NESCAC) will take on defending national champion Middlebury (12-3, 7-3 NESCAC) in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC field hockey playoffs.
Familiar foes, last season the Polar Bears and Panthers met three times: in the regular season, in the NESCAC Championship and in the NCAA Division III Championship. Though Bowdoin emerged victorious from the first two matchups, Middlebury won the last game, taking the national title and putting an end to Bowdoin’s perfect season.
When the teams faced off in the regular season this year, Middlebury came away with a close 3-2 win, although Bowdoin held a 7-4 edge in penalty corners and outshot the Panthers 13-7.
“I definitely think there’s revenge this Saturday and we’re almost in the better spot because of it,” said captain Kimmy Ganong ’17. “As of now [Middlebury has] beaten us already this season and they have the national championship from last year so we have a lot more to play for. They’re probably just sitting there thinking they’re safe and that they’ll beat us but I think that we as a team are peaking right now ... We know that we definitely can beat [Middlebury] and come from behind.”
Bowdoin enters the tournament as the fifth seed—the first time they won’t host their quarterfinal matchup since 2009—while Middlebury sits at No. 4. The two teams’ seeds come as a bit of a surprise since they have faced off in the championship match of the tournament for the last five years and are currently both ranked in the top five nationally. The fact that this notable matchup will be taking place in just the quarterfinals of the tournament speaks to an exceptional level of competition in the league this year.
“There’s more parity in the league this year than I’ve ever witnessed before,” said Head Coach Nicky Pearson. “We’ve always felt that every single NESCAC team that we play is going to be a really challenging game and we certainly feel it this year and that you certainly can’t underestimate any team. On any given day if we don’t show up and play our very best, there’s a chance you’re going to lose that game. It keeps you on your toes for sure.”
The tournament is set to be highly competitive on a national level as well. Of the eight teams competing, seven are ranked in the top 20 in the nation, with No. 8 seed Bates close behind.
Bowdoin hopes their extensive postseason experience will give their players a distinct advantage when facing the intensity of this year’s tournament.
“To have been in the championship game for the last five years speaks volumes for the players on the team,” said Pearson. “We have a number of players on our team that really know what it takes to be successful in the NESCAC tournament and they will draw on their experience from the last few years and be really ready for how competitive those games are going to be.”
Coming off an undefeated regular season and a NESCAC title, Bowdoin has faced some hard-fought losses this season, falling to Hamilton and Williams in the same weekend earlier in October and Tufts on Wednesday. While their record doesn’t support it, the Polar Bears controlled all three of those games, outshooting each opponent by double digits as well as earning more penalty corners.
“Although we aren’t winning on the scoreboard, we’re definitely outplaying our opponents in all the games that we lost,” said Ganong. “We’re not handing any team the win, we’re fighting until the very end.”
The Tufts loss was particularly disappointing as the Polar Bears had four times the number of shots as the Jumbos, had a 20-3 edge in penalty corners and had two goals called back.
“Just a frustrating game all around,” said Ganong. “But obviously just adding to our desire to keep the season going and beat [Middlebury] on Saturday.”
One of the most surprising aspects of the league this season is the rise of Hamilton (11-4, 7-3 NESCAC), who enter the tournament seeded third—the highest seed in program history—and are looking for their first playoff victory to continue their six-game win streak. In 2012, the Continentals went 0-14, yet have steadily improved each season, earning NESCAC bids for the last two years. Pearson attributes Hamilton’s strong performance this season to talent and determination.
“[Hamilton has] some exceptional players, their goalkeeper is playing very well and even though they lost a couple of games at the beginning of the season, they beat Middlebury early in the season and I think that probably was the turnaround game for them,” said Pearson. “After they won that game I think they really believed that they could beat anybody.”
In what is sure to be an exciting postseason, the Polar Bears will face the Panthers at 1 p.m. at Middlebury on Saturday.