The men's lacrosse team has had a hectic start to its season. Six games into the 2007 campaign, the team has already edged out two gutsy overtime wins, suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss, and battled with two of the top teams in the nation. And there are still eight regular season games remaining.
This year's Polar Bear squad is largely inexperienced and will look to its six seniors to provide leadership. The team "is a young team trying to fill the shoes of a great class that graduated last year," said senior quad-captain Charlie Legg. "While this has led to some inconsistency early on, I think that everyone will step up and come into their own as players.
"Our youth means that a lot of starting spots are up in the air, and competing for those spots will make us better as a team," he added.
Bowdoin (3-3, 1-1 NESCAC) has a lot of work to do to prove that it is one of the elite teams in the NESCAC.
On Wednesday, Bowdoin dropped a non-conference decision to 20th-ranked Endicott, 10-6. Senior quad-captain Matt Chadwick had two assists in the Polar Bear loss.
Returning to Brunswick after Spring Break, Bowdoin lost 15-5 against league powerhouse Middlebury on Saturday. Adam Tracy '10 netted two goals for the Polar Bears, but it was not enough to overcome the vicious Middlebury attack.
In their first Spring Break action, the Polar Bears lost a gritty game against 19th-ranked Kenyon, 8-7. However, just two days later, sophomore Rob Halliday scored an overtime game winner to lead Bowdoin to victory over Clarkson, 6-5. Senior goalie Charlie Legg also stopped 12 shots in the win.
In their next game, the Polar Bears rallied from a 6-3 halftime deficit to win another overtime victory. Halliday again notched the OT game-winner, this time over St. Lawrence, to ensure a 12-11 Bowdoin win.
"I definitely think the Florida trip and the start of the season were a success," said senior quad-captain Dave Donahue. "We started with a good league win versus Connecticut College and had three tough games down in Florida. The loss against Kenyon was a disappointing one-goal loss, but the overtime wins against Clarkson and St. Lawrence were huge victories."
The team believes that its early wins say a lot about the young team's maturity level.
"Our overtime victories showed that we have a lot of character as a team," said Legg. "It takes a lot of guts and heart to keep fighting when things aren't going your way."