After an up-and-down start to the season, the men's lacrosse team will face perhaps its toughest test yet, taking on undefeated Connecticut College this Saturday at Bowdoin.
"They're playing really well right now and will be a tough test for us," said sophomore goalie Chris Mitch Williamson. "It'll be a great opportunity to see where we're at right now."
On Wednesday night in Exeter, New Hampshire, the Polar Bears looked to bounce back from a string of early season defeats as they matched up against Springfield College. Led by junior attackman Kit Smith's three goals, Bowdoin jumped out to an imposing 7-2 halftime lead.
Springfield made sure to make Bowdoin work for the victory, as they held Bowdoin to just two second-half goals.
Fortunately for Bowdoin, the two goals were all they needed to hang on for the much-needed victory.
"Our defense played really well throughout the whole game and our offense really stepped up early to give us some momentum," said Williamson.
Prior to Wednesday's win, Bowdoin was mired in an early season slump that saw the team lose four of its first six games.
The Polar Bears opened their season in promising fashion, winning 11-7 at NESCAC-rival Wesleyan. Senior attackman Adam Tracy led the way, scoring one goal himself and tallying the assist on six others. Sophomore Mark Flibotte and Russ Halliday '11 added three goals each.
The team then traveled to Dallas, Texas where they played Western New England and Nazareth.
Against Western New England, the Polar Bears rallied from a four-goal first-half deficit to claim a 9-7 second-half advantage. Western New England responded with three straight goals to open the fourth quarter, before conceding a goal to Bowdoin, sending the game into overtime.
The Polar Bears' hopes were dashed with 2:19 remaining in the second overtime period when Western New England's Tim Santye scored to give his team the 11-10 win.
Looking to rebound against Nazareth, the Polar Bears were overmatched by the Golden Eagle's offensive prowess, allowing eight unanswered goals in the second and third quarters en route to an 11-4 loss.
In its first NESCAC game, Bowdoin suffered its first defeat to Trinity since 2004. Nathan Fritts '12 and Kit Smith paced Bowdoin with two goals each, but a three-goal spurt in the game's final quarter pushed the Bantams to the 10-8 victory.
The team rebounded with an impressive 17-10 victory over Keene State, but was unable to build on the win, losing to Amherst 13-8 to drop their record to 3-4 (1-2 NESCAC).
"We've hit a little bit of a rough spell but we're getting close to hitting our stride," said sophomore Brendan Hughes.
The Polar Bears will look to capture their first NESCAC victory of the young season Saturday against Connecticut College before taking on rival Colby at Bowdoin on Wednesday.