Despite a three game losing streak, the Bowdoin Football Team will head into this weekend's showdown at Trinity brimming with confidence.
"Trinity is a beatable team," said senior tri-captain Rogan Donelly '08, "[but] this week, we'll have to play at a much higher level of intensity and come ready to play."
The Bantams boast one of the best defensive units in the country, leading the nation in sacks at five per game. Trinity is also sixth nationally in tackles for loss, with 10.8 per contest.
Bowdoin will look to hand Trinity its second loss of the year on Saturday. Trinity, ranked fourth in New England, lost to conference-leading Tufts last weekend, with a final score of 16-10.
"We feel that we are on the verge of becoming a winning team, but first we need to trust ourselves," Donelly said.
In their last game, the Polar Bears suffered a Homecoming loss to Hamilton (23-17), after Hamilton quarterback Dan Hood threw for a career-high 352 yards. However, down 20-0 in the opening minutes of the third-quarter, Bowdoin never gave up, and rallied behind quarterback Oliver Kell '10 to score two touchdowns in the second half.
Head coach Dave Caputi praised the team's resilience. "I think it's an indication of a young but maturing team," said Caputi. "We fell behind, but we didn't give up."
This resilence found the Polar Bears doing their best to find a rhythm, one which eventually came, but perhaps too late.
"Once we gained some confidence in ourselves as a team, we were able to come back from a 20-0 score," said Donelly. "Our defense did a good job of trying to get the offense back on the field toward the end of the game, but there just wasn't enough time."
At the halfway point in the season, the team feels poised to make a run toward the top of the conference.
"In this league right now, anything can happen on any given Saturday," said Caputi. "We feel that in our last two games we had opportunities to win and we didn't."
Bowdoin currently sits at seventh place in the NESCAC, one game ahead of in-state rivals Bates and Colby, and hopes to add to its lead this weekend.
"The talent is there," said Donelly. "If we can polish up a few things and play with a higher level of intensity, we will be in good shape."