Bowdoin suffered its third loss of the season last Saturday against Hamilton in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs this Saturday at Ryan Field. A very competitive contest between the third-seeded Polar Bears (13-3) and the sixth-seeded Continentals (9-7) ended in a 10-9 victory for Hamilton.
Hamilton advances to the NESCAC semifinals next Wednesday against Trinity.
Bowdoin is currently waiting to hear if it will earn a NCAA tournament bid when selections are announced on Sunday.
Captain Carolyn Gorajek ’13 led the attack for the Polar Bears, recording four goals on nine shots during the match while also notching an assist. If Bowdoin, the No. 9 team in D-III, does not earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, Gorajek will end the season tied for most career assists, and tied for second most points in a season.
“We knew heading into the game that it would be a battle from the start because we went into overtime with them in regular season,” Gorajek said. “This was the type of game where every attacking and defensive set mattered and I think we fell short on a few key opportunities on both ends.”
The Polar Bears went into halftime trailing four to six but worked hard to play the Continentals to an equal second half which saw both teams score five goals apiece.
Captain Hannah Wright ’13 has had an impressive campaign this year leading the defense for the Polar Bears and is proud of the effort her side put forth.
“We came into this year with an amazing but different vibe from the very beginning,” she said. “We surprised ourselves with how well we played in our first couple games and we felt as though we could only go up, which we proved by only losing three games up to this point.”
With an at-large bid still a possibility for the women, the team has continued to practice throughout the week with enthusiasm just in case.
“I’m so proud of our team because we never stopped playing once or turned on each other during the game,” said Gorajek. “However, it was a tough loss and [it] puts us in a difficult place because our fate for getting an NCAA bid is now entirely out of our hands.”