After splitting a pair of games against Hamilton and Connecticut College last weekend, the women's hockey team will play its final game before a short Winter Break against Colby at Watson Arena this afternoon.
The weekend got off to a rough start for the Polar Bears, as they let a tie-game slip away in the final 10 minutes against Hamilton, which entered the game with a 1-4-0 record. The loss marked just the second time that the women's team has lost to Hamilton in their past 26 meetings; the Polar Bears had been undefeated against the Continentals since incurring a loss in the 1996-97 season.
Hamilton took a 1-0 lead with 1:32 left in the second frame, but Bowdoin evened the score midway through the final period when Stephanie Ludy '13 forced a turnover and passed to Jill Campbell '11, who then scored her second goal of the season with 10:46 to play. The game slipped away just as quickly as it had been tied up, however, as Hamilton's Stephanie Lang chipped a loose puck into the net one minute later to once again give the Continentals the lead. Hamilton's power-play goal with 3:35 remaining was enough to push the Continentals over the Polar Bears for the first time in over a decade.
At Watson Arena on Saturday, things turned around rapidly for the team, as it snapped its two-game skid with a big win over Connecticut College, which entered the game 3-2-0. Bowdoin built a 3-1 lead in the second period on consecutive scores from Kayte Holtz '13, Kim Tess-Wanat '13, and Emily Tang '14 before the Camels' Ashleigh Kowtoniuk and Courtney Dumont each scored later in the frame to tie the game heading into the final stanza.
The Polar Bears collected themselves at the break after seeing their lead disappear. Madeline Lane '14 and Alexandra Fahey '12 assisted first year Mallory Andrews, who scored on a power play with 7:10 remaining to lift the team to a thrilling 4-3 victory. Kayla Lessard '13 made 19 saves in her season debut.
The Polar Bears currently sit in fourth place in the NESCAC at 4-2-0. Despite Colby's 2-4-0 overall record, expect another exciting game between the two long-time rivals this afternoon.
On November 20, in the first game of the season, the team faced off against Colby in a thrilling 2-1 win that could be a sign of things to come in this afternoon's matchup. Bowdoin won the early-season contest against Colby in grand fashion.
The two teams remained scoreless after two periods, but 42 seconds into the third period, Holtz vaulted the Polar Bears into the lead. Colby leveled the score less than two minutes later, and the game eventually went into overtime. Tess-Wanat broke the deadlock less than a minute in to boost the Polar Bears over the Mules.
Andrews promises that "Friday will be an exciting game. Not only do we play Colby, but we get to play them at home, on our ice. It will surely be a game you won't want to miss and we, as a team, are ready to take them on once again."
A second win against the Mules would put the team in solid position to make a run for one of the top seeds in the NESCAC Championship once play resumes in January.
Faceoff will be at 4 p.m. in Watson Arena.
-Charlie Cubeta contributed to this report.