The men's lacrosse team heads into its huge showdown with Tufts tonight in a pitched battle for a home playoff game. Currently tied for third in the conference, the Polar Bears (8-5, 5-3) need a win if they are to host in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
Tonight's game, at home at 7 p.m., is crucial for the Polar Bears and the team will look to run its winning streak to two after a win over Bates on Tuesday.
Tufts (11-2, 6-2) sits at second in the standings heading into tonight's game and will also lock up a home playoff matchup with a win. The Jumbos boast a prolific offense led by attackmen Clem McNally and D.J. Hessler.
Bowdoin will look to its ball-control and fitness to overcome the Jumbos.
"To beat Tufts, we'll have to maintain the intensity and continue the smart style of play from Tuesday night, and just flat-out outhustle them," said senior quad-captain Rob Halliday. "We know that they're a big transition team but we're still one of the most in-shape teams I've ever been on and should therefore be able to [combat] their fast style of play."
"We are going to have to come out confident and play a full game," said junior attackman Adam Tracy. "Because Tufts has such a strong offense it is going to be essential for our own offense to minimize turnovers, control the game, and capitalize on our opportunities."
The Polar Bears overcame both the elements and the Bobcats on Tuesday in their 15-7 win. The game, played after an hour delay, was a battle through driving rain and cold temperatures. The victory snaps a four-game losing streak at a crucial juncture in the season.
"We watched a lot of film on our past few games, the Colby game in particular," said senior quad-captain Harry Ashforth. "We were able to fix a lot of our mistakes on offense and defense by watching ourselves in the games. The team did a great job of implementing what we worked on in practice, and it showed against Bates."
Bowdoin was led by Tracy who notched four goals and one assist in the win. Russ Halliday '11, Matt Legg '09 and Steve Thomas '10 each added two goals and sophomore netminder Jake McCampbell stopped 11 shots.
"Opportunities were created by good ball movement and taking advantage of the looks their defense was giving us," Tracy said. "Our offense finally came together and we played as a team."
The Polar Bears scored in bunches throughout the game, with runs of two, three, and six goals. After leading 9-4 at the half, Bowdoin outscored Bates 4-0 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Tonight's game features two of the best teams in the league battling for the playoffs. While Tufts is ranked No. 8 in the country, Bowdoin will look to knock the Jumbos down a peg and secure a home playoff game. If the Polar Bears win, they would host on Sunday.
"A home playoff game is definitely important as it's always great to play in front of our fans and the Bowdoin and Brunswick community," said captain Halliday. "But home or away, the key to the rest of the season is maintaining the poised confidence and intensity that we've now regained."