In arguably its stiffest test of the young season, Bowdoin played rival Colby at home on Wednesday. The Polar Bears played even with Colby as the sides exchanged goals for the game's first six scores. A three-goal run by Colby threatened to put the game out of reach for the Polar Bears, but Bowdoin battled back to trail by just three as the teams headed into the second half.
After a Liz Clegg '12 goal, the Bears closed the gap to 11-9 as the second half began. Unfortunately, that would be as close as Bowdoin would get, as the Mules pulled away, scoring five consecutive goals to extend their advantage to 16-9 en route to a 17-10 victory.
Despite the score, Coach Liz Grote felt her team played well.
"We were right with them for most of the game," she said. "I told my girls that, if you didn't look at the scoreboard, you would have thought it was a one-goal game looking at the intensity we played with."
The Polar Bears' schedule won't be getting any easier as they travel to face highly ranked Middlebury on Saturday.
Earlier in the week the team played NESCAC opponent Connecticut College and hard-hitting University of Southern Maine.
The three-game stretch started off in thrilling fashion last Saturday, as the Polar Bears narrowly defeated Connecticut College for their first NESCAC win.
The Polar Bears raced off to a 4-1 lead behind senior Lindsey McNamara's first-half hat trick, but allowed Connecticut College back into the game with four unanswered goals.
McNamara (game-high five goals) scored again to break the Camels streak and tie the game at 6-6.
From that point on, a back-and-forth ensued, as the Camels had an answer for every Bowdoin goal—until first year Elizabeth Clegg put the Polar Bears on top for good.
In a tense final two minutes, senior goalie Steph Collins-Finn ensured her team would come away with its first NESCAC victory by making a game-clinching save as time expired, helping the Polar Bears to a 11-10 win.
The Bears ensured their second game would have far less last-minute drama, as they cruised to a dominating 23-7 victory against USM.
Ingrid Oelschlager '11 led the team with four goals and an assist as Bowdoin out-shot the Huskies, 52 to 22. Sophomore Katy Dissinger (four goals) and first years Katie Stewart and Chelsea Albright also added hat tricks.
But the Polar Bears will now turn their attention to a Middlebury team Grote called "the best team in the country."