The women's hockey team will take the ice again at Watson Arena both Friday and Saturday—this time in a showdown against key rival Amherst—following a successful showing against Sacred Heart.
Last weekend, the Polar Bears took care of business in two home games against a Sacred Heart team who came in having won three straight games. Fans in attendance for Saturday's game witnessed a close match most of the way through.
Sacred Heart's Megan Murphy knocked in the game's first goal 11 minutes into the first period, but two second-period goals by sophomore Kayte Holtz put Bowdoin ahead 2-1. Sacred Heart managed to tie the game back up, but Bowdoin's relentless attack finally proved too much to handle when Mallory Andrews '14 found the back of the net with seven minutes to go.
Holtz then added two more goals in the span of three minutes, and Dominique Lozzi '12 capped off an impressive third period with a last-minute goal to boost the final score to 6-2 Bowdoin. The Polar Bears wound up out-shooting the Pioneers 41-11, and completed their only power-play opportunity.
Sunday's game also featured its fair share of highlights, despite being somewhat one-sided. Junior Al Chlebeck's second goal of the season, followed closely by two goals from Holtz, gave the Polar Bears an early 3-0 lead toward the end of the first period. Jill Campbell '11, Emily Tang '14, and Kim Tess-Wanat '13 each got in on the scoring action, plus Holtz added two more goals, to bring Sunday's final score to 8-2.
Despite the large score disparity, the Polar Bears only out-shot the Pioneers by seven (41-34) in the second game.
After scoring seven goals—good for half of the team's total—over the course of the weekend's two games, Holtz was named the NESCAC Women's Ice Hockey Player of the Week. Last weekend's games also moved her to first in the conference with 1.17 goals per game.
The Polar Bears are currently in third place in the NESCAC Conference, with an 11-5-2 overall record.
Although wins this weekend against first-place Amherst wouldn't necessarily jolt the team ahead of the 12-4-2 Lord Jeffs in the conference standings, they would certainly put the Polar Bears within striking distance of the defending national champions heading down the final stretch of the season. Amherst comes in having won six straight.
According to sophomore Jay Greene, the team knows it is in for "a tough couple of games, but is very confident" going into the weekend.
"The team is really coming together," she added. "All the lines are playing to their potential and we're starting to use our depth to gain and maintain momentum in games."
The Lord Jeffs managed a late third period two-goal comeback and beat the Polar Bears in overtime in the NESCAC Semifinals to end a strong Bowdoin campaign last year. The team will play at Watson Arena Friday night at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.