For only the second time in eight years, the field hockey team was blocked from the NCAA D-III Final Four last weekend.
A 2-1 defeat to NESCAC rival Tufts ended Bowdoin’s tournament run, sending the Jumbos into the NCAA semifinals instead.
After toppling New Paltz State in the first round, the Polar Bears journeyed to William Smith College to face MIT in the second round of the national tournament.
The Polar Bears ended the Engineers’ season with a 3-1 victory and continued on to face Tufts the following day.
Bowdoin’s back-to-back NCAA contests pitted the team against familiar opponents; field hockey defeated MIT in the tournament last year, and had met Tufts twice before with their current roster.
This prior experience helped Head Coach Nicky Pearson and her team prepare for the tough weekend.
Pearson says she was well aware of MIT’s talent headed into their game.
“We knew they had a small passing game and they also look for some longer diagonal passes, so it was important that our positioning and defense angles were correct,” Pearson said.
The Polar Bears’ notoriously staunch defense did just as Pearson hoped, limiting the Engineers to just four shots while allowing the offense to continually create opportunities, resulting in 24 Polar Bear shots.
Bowdoin’s first successful offensive opportunity came from a corner play started by a shot by Brooke Phinney ’13 and finished by Cathleen Smith ’13.
MIT answered when Molly Duffy managed to breakaway and skirt the ball past goalkeeper Kayla Lessard ’13 to tie the game at 1-1.
Bowdoin regained the lead at the end of the first half from another penalty corner. Phinney executed the shot spurred from a set up by Kassey Matoin ’13 and Katie Riley ’13.
Colleen Finnerty ’15 secured the second round victory with a goal assisted by Riley.
Unfortunately, prior knowledge was not enough to push the Polar Bears past Tufts the following day, though the previous matchups did help explain the tight competition.
Pearson said corners were an area where she felt that the team fell short.
“In the two previous meetings it really came down to executing offensive opportunities, particularly corners,” she said.
The decisive battle was played predominately in the midfield, where both teams vied for control, though neither managed many dangerous opportunities.
In the first half, Bowdoin was the lone team on the board after Lauren Shroeder ’14 finished on an attempt from Riley.
Late in the second half, Tufts capitalized on a corner to tie the game, and in the final minutes of competition the Jumbos rebounded yet another corner to secure a spot in the Final Four.
The close game was telling of both teams’ “goo defensive layers” and ability to thwart breakaways, said Pearson.
Though the close loss against Tufts was disappointing, Pearson insists on her team’s enduring success and achievements throughout their 16-4 season.
The Polar Bears see the defensive gap that the five graduating seniors will leave and eagerly look to refocus and rebuild that unit for their next season.