Six goals, four in less than nine minutes, led to a blowout victory for the women's soccer team against the Huskies. After suffering a tough loss last weekend against Wheaton, Bowdoin rebounded against USM on Wednesday.
It didn't take long for the Bears to get on the board. In just the seventh minute of action, sophomore Ellery Gould netted her third goal of the season, and it was clear from the start that the Huskies were outmatched in all facets of the game. Just 15 minutes into the game, Bowdoin had already widened its lead to a commanding four goals.
The rest of the game didn't provide much excitement, as the Bears would add two more goals in the first half on their way to an easy 6-0 victory. With the win, the Bears were able to play their entire squad, giving valuable minutes to the less experienced players on the team. First year Lucy Morrell recorded her first collegiate goal for the Bears while two first year goalies were able to see their first live action. The struggling Huskies fall to 1-6 on the season.
But just a few days earlier, Bowdoin fell to Wheaton College in a well fought 1-0 loss. Wheaton is in the midst of another successful season, improving to 7-1 with the win over the Bears. Even so, Wheaton struggled throughout the game as Bowdoin maintained the majority of the possession. After over 81 minutes of scoreless play, Wheaton was able to collect the ball in the box and poke one into the net.
"It was a hard loss to swallow, I thought we out-played...them," said tri-captain Christina Aceto '11, "But sometimes things just don't go your way."
On the positive side, Kat Flaherty '11 continued her strong play in goal, recording 12 saves in the loss while senior tri-captain Dana Riker has established herself as a consistent leader on the field. With the weekend loss and a mid-week victory, the Bears are now 2-2 on the season but face a strong opponent in Middlebury tomorrow.
After a week with two non-conference matches, Bowdoin now looks to move above the .500 mark with an always important NESCAC home game. Middlebury comes into tomorrow's game with an undefeated 3-0 record, having barely beaten both Tufts and Trinity in separate overtime victories.
"This is a big game for us," said junior defender Tiernan Cutler. "They're always a strong side, but our team is excited and confident about the challenge."
Kick off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning at Pickard Field.