The field hockey team will play in the NCAA D-III Final Four this weekend in Virginia Beach after topping New Paltz State and Montclair State last weekend. Bowdoin takes on Christopher Newport University at 11 a.m. today for the right to advance to the national championship game against the winner of the game between Salisbury and Skidmore.
The Polar Bears return to the national semifinals for the seventh time in the last nine years, having claimed the Division III title in ’07, ’08 and ’10.
On Friday, the Polar Bears faced New Paltz State in the second round of the tournament, securing a 5-2 win over the Hawks. Less than five minutes into the game, Rachel Kennedy ’16 fed a long pass to Emily Simonton ’15, who wristed the shot just inside the left post, giving Bowdoin an early lead. Despite New Paltz taking three consecutive corners, the Polar Bears were able to counter each and preserve the lead. Before the end of the first half, Katie Riley ’14 added an unassisted shot to bring the lead up to 2-0.
Ten minutes into the second half, however, New Paltz managed to trim Bowdoin’s lead by adding a goal of its own, slipping a shot past goalkeeper Hannah Gartner ’15. The Bears retaliated soon after, scoring the game’s third goal less than one minute later. Mettler Growney ’17 crossed the ball to Liv King ’14, who connected with Colleen Finnerty ’15 for a hard drive in front of the goal. Riley controlled the shot and tapped it into the net, bringing the score to 3-1.
Just three minutes later, Riley collected a cleared ball and travelled down the right side, passing across the circle to Kennedy, who found the left corner of the Hawks’ cage, bringing Bowdoin’s lead to 4-1. Riley would score one more goal before the end of the game to complete her hat trick. In the final seconds of the game, New Paltz was able to cut the lead to three, tipping the ball past the left post to end the match 5-2. Bowdoin outshot the Hawks 19-9 with an 11-6 edge in corners.
The following day, Bowdoin knocked off top-ranked Montclair State with a 1-0 victory. Despite several shots on goal by each team, the game remained scoreless late in the second half. When the Polar Bears were finally able to get past the Montclair defense off a penalty corner, Riley sent the ball to the top, where King was able to direct a pass to Kennedy, who slipped the ball between the goalie’s legs to take the lead.
According to Kim Kahnweiler ‘16, the win was not easily secured.
“We had to fight the entire time, literally until the final seconds to secure the win,” she said. Bowdoin outshot Montclair by 12-7, with Gartner making four saves.
Kahnweiler attributed the wins to the drive established by a loss in last year’s tournament.
“We remembered how it felt last year when we couldn’t move on in the tournament, and no one wanted that again,” she said. “That helped fuel us.”
Finnerty felt that the team’s focus in preparing to compete in the toughest bracket of the tournament also contributed to the victory.
“Instead of getting hung up on how tough our games were going to be, we found it to be an advantage that we were playing teams that we knew nothing about,” she said. “We were able to focus more on how we play as a team and what we do well.”
The team continues to succeed beyond the scope of the NCAA tournament. This week, the National Field Hockey Coaches Association recognized five Bowdoin players with All-New England Honors. Riley, King and Kennedy were named to the All-Region First Team honors while Finnerty and Kahnweiler earned All-Region Second Team distinctions.