After 105 minutes of scoreless play, junior defender Tiernan Cutler finally broke the deadlock when she buried a shot from close range to beat Brandeis University in overtime yesterday.
Bowdoin, coming off a well-contested loss to Williams last Saturday, bounced back yesterday in triumphant fashion.
Bowdoin and Brandeis were even from the start, trading opportunities with multiple chances and just barely missing the back of the net.
But thanks to stellar defense from the Bears, coupled with some always-welcome help from the goal post, the Judges couldn't find a way to break through.
Junior Kat Flaherty tallied eight saves in the game en route to her fourth shutout of the year.
"It feels incredible to win a game like this," said Flaherty after the game. "We knew how important it was to rebound after the game against Williams and we did just that."
And with her impressive play, she allowed her team the time it needed to finally get on the board and secure the victory.
With only five minutes left in the second period of overtime, Bowdoin lined up for a corner kick.
The ball was crossed in and after a brief scrum in the box, first-year forward Stacie Sammot collected the ball on the end-line and laid it back to Cutler.
The bench rose in anticipation even before the shot was taken and Cutler did not disappoint, confidently placing the ball into the back of the net.
"It was like a mixture of excitement and relief. It's just that we played so well, we deserved to win that game," said Cutler about her game-winning goal.
The game was an important confidence builder for the Bears, who fell to an impressively strong Williams team over the weekend.
Williams, now 11-0 on the season has moved up to No. 2 in the country in this week's national pole.
The Ephs did not waste much time before scoring last Saturday, getting their first goal in just the 26th second of play. It was downhill from there for the Bears as the lead would soon expand to a three-goal deficit less than 20 minutes into the game.
But even though Williams would go on to add its fourth and final goal in the 80th minute of the game, the score does not indicate just how closely fought the game really was.
"Other than the first 15 minutes of the game, we played our best soccer of the season," said tri-captain Christina Aceto '11. "It's frustrating but it shows just how good we can really be."
With the loss, Bowdoin stands at 3-4 in the NESCAC but is 7-5 overall thanks to yesterday's win.
The team will now look to continue yesterday's success against NESCAC opponent Trinity this weekend.
With both teams currently tied for fifth place in the league, tomorrow's game will have a large impact on where Bowdoin ends up playing its first-round game of the playoffs.
Trinity, 4-4-3 on the season and 2-3-2 in the NESCAC, is coming off a week in which they tied Tufts 1-1 and lost to Eastern Connecticut State 1-0. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow.