The women's hockey team will take the ice at Watson Arena for its two final regular season games this weekend against Williams and Middlebury, following another split in Connecticut last weekend.
After a slow start, the Polar Bears took care of business at Wesleyan's Spurrier-Snyder Rink last Friday, soundly defeating the Cardinals by a score of 6-1.
Wesleyan entered the game with a 2-15-1 overall record (0-11 NESCAC), and was in the middle of a 10-game winless streak. Moreover, the Pioneers were unsuccessful against the Polar Bears in the last 23 meetings between the two teams.
Perhaps the Polar Bears were caught slightly off-guard in what was undeniably a poor first period for the team. An eighth-minute goal scored by Cardinals' Kelsey Muller and four Bowdoin penalties left the Polar Bears down 1-0 heading into the second period.
However, the team—aided by goals from Stephanie Ludy '13 and Kenzie Novak '12—turned the game around early in the second period, and never looked back.
Ludy added her second goal two minutes into the third period, before a string of six Wesleyan penalties led to power-play goals for both Kim Tess-Wanat '13 and Madeline Lane '14. Emily Tang '14 rounded out the scoring with five minutes to go in the game.
In the end, the Polar Bears outshot the Cardinals 40-13 on Friday. Both teams racked up a number of penalties but had mixed success with their power play opportunities, with Bowdoin finishing 2-for-7 and Wesleyan finishing 0-for-6 in such attempts. Goalie Sage Santangelo '12 finished the game with 12 saves.
The outcome of Saturday's game at Trinity College, though, was far from what the team was hoping for. After Friday night's win, another victory against the Bantams would have given the Polar Bears a firm grasp on the No. 3 Seed in the NESCAC playoffs, in addition to all but assuring the team a home playoff game in the first round of the tournament.
Trinity entered the game with a 6-3-3 conference record, compared to Bowdoin's 8-4-1 mark at the beginning of the day. Both teams were coming off modest two-game winning streaks.
Despite five first-period penalties—four of which were committed by the Polar Bears—the game remained deadlocked heading into the second period. Ten seconds into the second period, though, Trinity's Sarah Kohn scored the game's first goal. The Polar Bears were then unable to cash in on a series of Bantams penalties, which even afforded the team a 6 on 4 opportunity at the end of the period.
To make matters worse, Trinity extended its lead five minutes into the third period on a short-handed goal by Bantams' Kim Weiss. Incapable of generating any offense, the Polar Bears pulled goalie Tara Connolly—who finished with 24 saves—with two minutes to go in the game, resulting in a third Trinity goal.
Although Trinity narrowly outshot Bowdoin 27-20, the Polar Bears' lack of execution on power plays certainly seemed to be the deciding factor in the contest. This marked the first game of the season in which the team was shutout.
Trinity remains ranked ninth in the nation and moves up to third in the NESCAC after the win Saturday and a thorough routing of Wesleyan Tuesday night. The Polar Bears, on the other hand, find themselves clinging to the fourth seed, which means that this weekend's games against Williams and Middlebury are crucial.
Williams will enter Friday's game on a four-game losing streak, while Middlebury has won eight of its past nine. Although the Polar Bears could still theoretically be seeded as high as third for the ensuing NESCAC tournament, they will need help from Hamilton and Connecticut College, who would both need to beat the Bantams. Realistically, Bowdoin's goal for the weekend should then be to at least secure the fourth-seed—and the home game in the first round that comes with it—which, according to Connolly, "would be a great advantage."
With Connecticut College sitting just one game behind, that won't be an easy task.