This past weekend, the men’s lacrosse team’s six-game win streak was brought to an abrupt end when Trinity (3-7, 1-4 NESCAC) shot the game-winning goal with only four seconds left in regulation. On Tuesday, the Polar Bears were again bested by one, this time by the Keene State Owls.
In the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Trinity, the teams were locked at 3-3. In the next two quarters, however, the Bantams outscored Bowdoin to secure a 7-5 lead. Early in the fourth, Trinity tallied another two points, widening the goal gap to four. With only about six minutes left of play, the Polar Bears finally found their footing. Griffin Cardew ’14 and Peter Reuter ’16 scored within 50 seconds of one another. Spirited play from Franklin Reis ’14 brought the score back to a tie after he netted two goals with only a minute left on the clock, bringing the score to 9-9. Despite the comeback, the Polar Bears then failed to contain the Bantams, allowing the devastating go-ahead goal as time expired. The game ended 10-9 and was the Bantams’ first conference victory of the season.
According to Billy Bergner ’13, “every team in the NESCAC, regardless of their record, is a potential trap.”
He stressed that “for the rest of this year, we really just need to play ‘our’ game. If [goalkeeper] Chris Williamson [’12] continues to play the way he has been, the defense continues to work together in Coach [Jason] Archbell’s scheme, and the offense continues to put the ball in the cage, we are going to be dangerous.”
On Tuesday, the Polar Bears faced off against Keene State in a non-conference match. In the first quarter of play, Reis netted three goals to give the Polar Bears a 3-2 lead, which was extended in the second quarter when both Reis and David Nemirov ’15 each scored to give the Polar Bears a 5-2 lead. Before intermission, the Owls were able to cut the scoring gap to one. In the second half of the game, Bowdoin was unable to net a single ball, allowing Keene to pull ahead and end the game 6-5.
According to Archbell, after Tuesday night’s game, the team “did not finish [the] many opportunities in front of the goal, and did not shoot particularly well from the perimeter,” he began.
“I give Keene State a lot of credit as they played well and very hard, but I also think that we made too many key errors that ended up not allowing us to be successful in the end,” he added.
Tomorrow, the Polar Bears will play Wesleyan in another conference matchup. According to captain Max Rosner ’13, the contest will be “the most important game of the season. Wesleyan is another good NESCAC opponent and I think everyone knows we will have to come to play in order to get the ‘W.’”