The men's lacrosse team will look to avenge last year's NESCAC semifinal loss to Middlebury when the Panthers come to Brunswick this Saturday.
"We need to string together a complete game," said Keegan Mehlhorn '12. "Offense, defense and faceoffs need to be working at the same time if we're going to come away with the victory. We're capable, and a win against Middlebury would be a great way to start gaining some momentum."
An up-and-down season for the Polar Bears continued this week as the team earned its first NESCAC victory of the season against last year's regular season champions, Connecticut College, before losing an intense battle to rival Colby in overtime.
Against the Camels, the Polar Bears showed the defensive tenacity that made them one of the most difficult teams to score against last season.
"We did a really good job of keying on their playmakers and slowing them down," said senior captain Jimmy Herter. "We kept up the intensity and played a good game for 60 minutes."
After surrendering an early goal, Bowdoin enjoyed a 4-0 run to end the first quarter, gaining what would prove to be an insurmountable three-goal lead. Mehlhorn and Kit Smith '11, scored 26 seconds apart to open the scoring for the Polar Bears, and both finished with another goal and an assist in leading the team to a much-needed NESCAC victory.
A phenomenal defensive effort, led by junior defenseman Matt Egan's team-high seven groundballs coupled with tremendous faceoff work from Brendan Hughes '12 and Brian Durkin '13, who combined to win 13 of 18 faceoffs, helped the Polar Bears achieve a lopsided 45-14 shot attempt mark.
Senior Russ Halliday led the team with four goals, all of which came in the final two periods, and helped Bowdoin pull away for its first NESCAC win.
The momentum gained from the strong effort last Saturday was quickly lost when the team traveled to Waterville to take on the Mules.
A slow start saw the team struggle to a two-goal halftime deficit, but after Colby's Josh Jennings scored to make it 5-3 in favor of the Mules, the Polar Bears began to find their groove.
A 4-0 run to end the third quarter gave Bowdoin a two-goal advantage, but Colby responded with three goals of its own to take an 8-7 lead early in the game's final quarter.
Durkin and Ben Chadwick '11 each scored go-ahead goals in the game's final minutes, but Colby matched their efforts and forced overtime.
In an exhilarating overtime period, both teams had chances to win the game, including a Bowdoin possession that ended with a shot coming off the post and a scramble in front of the goal.
Colby ultimately decided the contest with a goal from attackman Mark Squicciarino with just over a minute left in the overtime period to hand Bowdoin its fourth NESCAC loss in five games.
"Against arguably the best faceoff player in the nation, we were able to win the majority of faceoffs," Mehlhorn said. "If we continue to execute in this area, the extra possessions should start translating into more goals and more wins."
"There were moments of brilliance sprinkled in, and I think we showed some signs of coming together," Herter added. "We have a big test this week against the seventh-ranked team in the country, but we have something to prove so I think it should be a really good game."