The men's soccer team won its first-ever NCAA tournament game and will face Amherst tomorrow in Sweet Sixteen competition.
After being awarded a bye for the first round, Bowdoin beat the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors 2-1 last Sunday at home. With the win, the Polar Bears are now 14-1-3 and have tied the school record for most wins in a season.
From the outset of the game against Eastern Connecticut, Bowdoin showed why it finished on top of the regular season NESCAC standings. During the first period, the Polar Bears outshot the Warriors 10-3 and dominated possession.
In the 36th minute, senior captain Ben Denton-Schneider found Michael Gale '13 at the edge of the 18-yard box. Gale took three touches to his right and ripped a shot from 20 yards out that found the side netting. Gale now leads the team with seven goals this year.
"He has tremendous confidence when he steps on the field and he gives us a huge lift when chances are scarce," said captain Dan Hicks '11.
Gale has been a spark coming off the bench for the Polar Bears. He has the highest scoring percentage at .269 and sits third on the team with 17 points.
"Gale has been great for us this year scoring clutch goals in big games," said forward Eddie Jones '12. "He is a hard-working player and it shows on the field."
With a 1-0 lead, the Polar Bears came out strong once again in the second half. Denton-Schneider secured a 51st minute goal off a beautiful cross from Jones. It was Denton-Schneider's sixth goal of the season and Jones' sixth assist.
After the second goal, Bowdoin continued to dominate proceedings. The pace of the game began to drop, and it seemed that the Warriors had accepted the result. Yet in the 81st minute, the Polar Bear defense was finally breached. Warrior Zach Kice poked the ball from Hicks' grasp.
Although the goal made the game into a tighter contest, the Warriors could not find a way to trouble Hicks again in the remaining nine minutes. The team's inability to get off a shot was representative of the game as a whole: Hicks only had to make two saves all game.
"The first game in a playoff tournament is often the hardest, and we were delighted to come away with a win thanks to fine goals from Michael Gale and Ben Denton-Schneider," said head coach Fran O'Leary.
Because the loss to Middlebury in penalty kicks in the NESCAC Championship is officially recorded as a tie, the win against the Warriors extended Bowdoin's unbeaten streak to 14.
Pickard Field will see its fair share of games this upcoming weekend.
NESCAC champion Middlebury will play Babson in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Bowdoin and Amherst will take the field directly afterwards at 1 p.m.
"It's always great to host," said Jones. "The fans have been great for us this year especially down the stretch."
All three NESCAC teams have faced one another already this season. The Polar Bears tied Amherst in their first game of the season while Middlebury has gotten the better of Bowdoin twice—once in an early season 2-0 victory, and again two weeks ago on penalty kicks in the NESCAC Championship final.
Middlebury beat Amherst in a 1-0 victory, and Bowdoin came from behind to beat Babson 2-1 in its final regular season matchup.
"All three are fine sides and each will pose us a unique challenge," said O'Leary. "That being said, we have gained tremendous confidence off the back of a 14-game unbeaten run."
The winner of the Bowdoin-Amherst game and the winner of the Middlebury-Babson game will compete on Sunday for the chance to advance to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.
"It is tournament time and each game is going to be a battle," said Hicks, "but if we play our game at our pace, I have full belief we'll be the last ones standing."