Despite a bumpy opening to its season—in the form of a pair of NESCAC losses to Connecticut College and Amherst—the men’s lacrosse team has finally found its stride. The team is in the midst of a 5-game win streak after locking up two important 7-6 victories last weekend against conference rivals Middlebury and Williams. The wins helped push Bowdoin (6-2, 3-2 NESCAC) from No. 20 to No. 14 in the D-III rankings and third in the latest regional rankings.
Saturday’s game proved to be especially important for the Polar Bears, who dealt Middlebury its first loss of the season. Billy Bergner ’13 netted a hat trick to pace the offense, and Peter Reuter ’16 and Will Wise ’14 each scored once.
In the first quarter against the Panthers, a 1-1 tie was broken by junior Franklin Reis’ wrap-around goal with only three seconds remaining. Middlebury tied the score again just 30 seconds into the second quarter. The Bowdoin attackers maintained their composure, answering with three uncontested tallies to bring the score to 5-2 heading into halftime.
Following the half, Middlebury was able to net an early point and narrowed the scoring gap to just two points. Bowdoin retaliated with two more goals to close out the third 7-3. The fourth quarter saw Middlebury gain substantial momentum, as they were able to put three goals past goalkeeper Chris Williamson ’12 to close the gap to just one goal. Despite Middlebury being on the offensive in the final seconds of the match, Bowdoin was able to secure the win after Williamson made an impressive point-blank stop as time expired with a final score of 7-6.
The following day, the Polar Bears travelled to Williams to face the Ephs in a nail-biting conference matchup. With the score tied 6-6 at the end of regulation, the teams ended up having to play four high-energy overtime periods in order to determine a winner.
The Polar Bears came out strong in the first quarter, netting three goals from Reis, Conor O’Toole ’14 and Reuter in less than four minutes. Early in the second quarter, Williams was able to narrow the scoring gap, tallying two points to bring the score to 3-2. Reuter answered with one of his own, giving the Bears a 4-2 lead before the half. In the third quarter, Bowdoin was able to net two more to the Eph’s one. Despite Bowdoin’s 6-3 lead heading into the fourth, Williams refused to give up, scoring three goals and forcing the game into overtime.
The 4-minute overtime periods—which in lacrosse are played sudden-death style—exhibited very few shots on goal as both teams refused to take risks on defense. Williamson stopped just one on-target ball in three of the four periods. But after neither team managed to score after 12 minutes of extra play, defenseman Mac Caputi ’15 ended the contest early in the fourth overtime, tearing through the middle of the Williams defense and sending the ball to the back of the net to score his first goal as a Polar Bear and give Bowdoin the win.
Reis, last week’s NESCAC Player of the Week, said that the team has high hopes for the coming season, and hopes to return to the NESCAC championship to avenge its double overtime loss to Tufts in the 2012 playoffs.
“It would be great to have an opportunity to play them again in the championship,” said Reis.
According to Reis, Tufts will be the Polar Bears’ toughest competitor in the 2013 season.
“They returned two very strong offensive players, and have consistently made it far in the NCAA tournament,” he said.
Reis said he was optimistic about the team’s current momentum, which is a stark contrast to the team’s shaky spring break play.
“As a team, we must maintain our focus,” he said. “We have reached the halfway point of our season, and we cannot underestimate any opponent we play.”
The NESCAC Player of the Week distinction was again awarded to a Bowdoin player this week. Williamson, who racked up a .703 save percentage and 5.95 goals against average over the weekend, achieved the second consecutive honor for the Bowdoin squad.
The Polar Bears will return to action tomorrow when they travel to Hartford to face Trinity. The team will then face non-conference Keene State at home on Tuesday.