The stifling defense and dynamic offense of the women's field hockey team accumulated a total of 73 shots on goal and 11 scores while limiting its opponents to just seven shots. The team didn't allow a single goal on the way to earning its first NESCAC victory of the 2009 season on Saturday. The Polar Bears subsequently improved their record to 3-1 with a victory against the University of Southern Maine (USM) on Tuesday.
The Polar Bears rolled past the Huskies by a score of 6-0. The first strike came just six minutes into the contest when sophomore Katie Herter smashed home a rebound off of a missed penalty corner attempt.
The next two goals resulted from penalty corner opportunities, as well. Senior co-captain Kara Kelley launched a shot under the foot of USM goalkeeper, Allison Hill, at 11:14 and Ella Curren '12 blasted the ball to the lower right corner of the net at 18:12.
"I think that our corners were very successful this week against Bates and USM," midfielder Emily French '12 said. "We spent a lot of time perfecting corners so it was great to see those work out."
Just nine minutes later, Ingrid Oelschlager '11 carried the ball across the top of the circle and unleashed a rocket that found its way behind Hill.
Bowdoin goalie Emily Neilson '11 was forced to charge out of her net and make an impressive diving save when USM forward Caitlin Albert weaved her way behind the Polar Bear defenders at 19:10.
Kelley pocketed her second tally of the night off a pass from Elizabeth Clegg '12 at 30:40, and Clegg scored the final point for the Polar Bears by sweeping home the rebound off a missed Oelschlager shot at 51:17.
Saturday's 5-0 victory over the Bates Bobcats was another impressive display of the Polar Bears' superior discipline and exceptional talent.
Senior co-captain Shavonne Lord got the scoring started for the Polar Bears by smashing home a ball that Jessie Small '11 had freed from a scrum just off of the back post at 17:53.
Even though Bowdoin was able to control the game and outshoot the Bobcats 18-0 in the first half, Bates goalkeeper Katie McEnroe came up with eight saves to keep the score at 1-0 going into half-time.
However, the fierce Polar Bear offense picked up the intensity in the second half. Curren sprinted into an opening just off of the top of the circle to receive a crisp, diagonal inbound pass from French. Curren then carried the ball into the circle and scorched a shot to the lower right corner of the net to give Bowdoin the 2-0 lead at 38:31.
Head Coach Nicky Pearson and the Polar Bears also showed a little creativity off of a set penalty corner play. Lord jumped over a pass and allowed it to land on the stick of Oelschlager, who fed the pass to a waiting Elizabeth Clegg '12 on the back post. Clegg then quickly scored on the redirect past a diving McEnroe at the 57:53 mark.
Curren rounded out the scoring for the Polar Bears, completing her hat trick by unleashing blistering shots into the goal on two separate penalty corner attempts during the final two minutes of the contest.
As the final whistle sounded, the dominant Bowdoin defense had successfully kept the Bobcats from recording a single shot on net throughout the entire game.
"I think that it was a combination of a lot of things, communication and teamwork definitely being some of them," said French. "Having strong and persistent defense all over the field made it difficult for Bates to maintain possession long enough to get any shots."
This Saturday the Polar Bears will take on the NESCAC rival Panthers of Middlebury College at 11 a.m. on the turf of Howard F. Ryan Field. Bowdoin has had a successful run against Middlebury, boasting a 9-0 record over the past three years.
After the Middlebury game, the Polar Bears will have to gear up for the home game against the Eagles of Husson College on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
"Middlebury will be the strongest team we have faced so far this season," Pearson said. "We are encouraged with the way we have started our schedule but know we need to play at a higher level to win on Saturday."