In its season premiere on Saturday, the men's soccer team faced the No. 3 team in the nation, the Amherst Lord Jeffs. Bowdoin fought ardently but ultimately fell 2-0.
By halftime, solid defense on both sides had held the game tied, neither team having scored a goal. Then, in the 67th minute, Amherst drew first blood. After coming off of the bench, rookie Spencer Noon blasted a volley past the right side of a diving Dan Hicks '11.
In the 83rd minute, Noon struck again. Amherst's Chris Linsmayer ripped a shot that was swatted down by Hicks, but a waiting Noon buried the rebound into the back of the net to give the Lord Jeffs their final goal of the day. The first year's impressive efforts earned him the NESCAC Player of the Week award.
Co-captain Tom Wakefield '10, battling a leg injury, substituted into the game to provide support in the midfield. Wakefield thought the team played well overall, but said that "we dropped off a bit in the end."
On Wednesday, Bowdoin rebounded from the loss with a 3-1 win against visiting Southern Maine University. The victory left the Bears (1-1) with a career record of 22-5-3 against the Huskies (2-3).
The scoring started early. In the eighth minute, Nick Powell '12 received a pass from Eddie Jones '12 and delivered a hard shot into the bottom right corner of the net to put the Bears in the lead. The Polar Bears appeared to be in control throughout the first half of play, outshooting the Huskies 8-1 and dominating the game in the air with aggressive headers.
The second half saw the Bears increase their lead with another tally from Powell. In the 61st minute, a charging Tim Prior '11 drew out Huskie's goalie David Kreps and laid the ball off to Powell, providing him an open net to shoot on.
Three minutes later, a dipping volley from a Southern Maine player looked dangerous, but a leaping Hicks punched the shot away from the upper left corner. The Huskies did find the back of the net in the 74th minute, when Hicks misplayed a back pass, allowing substitute Mohamed Mohamed to steal the ball and sink it into an open net.
The Bears quickly avenged this goal, scoring just two minutes later. After a string of crisp passes in the Bowdoin midfield, Jones collected the ball and passed to a sprinting Prior, who fired a shot into the net, finalizing the win. Alex Thomas '13 nearly bagged a goal in the final minutes when he rifled a low shot towards the lower left corner, forcing Kreps to make a diving save. Danny Chaffetz '11 and Hunter Clark '13 also contributed strong performances in the victory.
Injuries are still a major concern for the Polar Bears, keeping co-captain Matt Ostrup '10 and veteran Ben Denton-Schneider '11 out of the lineup. Nevertheless, many injured players have returned to play since being sidelined in the preseason. Ostrup said that "everyone has been handling [the injuries] well," referencing players who have stepped it up in place of absent teammates.
Bowdoin will host the Bates Bobcats on Saturday at 4 p.m. before heading to St. Joseph's College (ME) on Sunday.