The women's soccer team secured its spot in the NESCAC tournament with a decisive 3-0 win over Trinity on Senior Day. The Polar Bears will travel to Tufts this weekend to wrap up regular season play and await the final conference rankings, which will determine their opponent in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
The team wasted no time getting started offensively last Saturday against Trinity as a give-and-go between Celeste Swain '12 and Ellery Gould '12 resulted in the opening goal by Gould at 4:32. Gould currently leads the team this season with 11 goals. With a career total of 31, she is in a tie for fifth place with Cyndy Falwell '99 on Bowdoin's all-time goal-scoring list. She is just seven goals shy of the current record—38—set by Marte Holden '84.
The Polar Bears headed into halftime with a 2-0 lead after first year Becky Krakora scored her first collegiate goal off a pass from Stacie Sammott '13 at 42:48. Christina Aceto '11 put one more away for the Polar Bears after a scramble in front of the net in the 67th minute of play. While both teams totaled nine shots in the contest, Trinity was unable to find the back of the net.
Bowdoin goalkeeper Kat Flaherty '11 recorded nine saves in the victory as Emily Weedon stopped six shots for the visitors. The Polar Bears improve to 6-5-2 (3-4-1 NESCAC) with the victory as the Bantams fall to 5-3-4 (3-3-2 NESCAC).
Bowdoin will battle for playoff positioning in its game at Tufts on Friday afternoon. Amherst and Tufts are currently tied for first as Bowdoin shares sixth place with Wesleyan. The Jumbos have not lost a game since September 22 and posted an impressive six-game winning streak, which ended with a tie against Williams just last week. The Polar Bears have only suffered one loss this season by more than one goal, which was also at the hands of Williams.
The team is confident that it can put forth a strong effort in tournament play.
"I think we are peaking at the right time and can beat anyone in the NESCAC. Tufts will not show us anything we haven't already seen in the NESCAC," said senior captain Molly Duffy. "Tournament time is a very exciting time of year, and we are ready to get things started this weekend in the first round."
Kickoff for Friday's contest is scheduled at 3 p.m. Sunday's quarterfinal location will be at Amherst, Tufts or Williams, depending on Friday's results throughout the conference.