The women’s hockey team suffered two tough losses this weekend against NESCAC rival Williams. In the last matchup between the two teams, the Polar Bears fended off the Ephs in the NESCAC 2013 playoffs.
“They are having their most successful year in a couple years,” Head Coach Marissa O’Neil said of Williams. “There was a lot of pride at stake [in these games].”
On Friday evening, the Polar Bears came out of the locker room firing, and Ariana Bourque ’16 and Madeline Lane ’14 had a power play shot that goalie Margaret Draper of Williams blocked. Mallory Andrews ’14 took control of the rebound and shot a wrister into William’s left post—leaving Bowdoin with a goal just 4:30 into the game. Although Williams came close to responding with a clean shot from Emily Krueger, goaltender Lan Crofton ’17 stopped the shot—leaving Bowdoin in the lead after the first period, 1-0.
Only 7:11 into the second period, Williams stormed back into the game with a cross-ice pass from the Ephs’ Caitlin Conlon to Cristina Bravi, who tipped it into the goal. But captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15 scored with just 10 seconds remaining in the second period to give Bowdoin a 2-1 lead leaving the second period.
Williams’ play in the third frame would ultimately seal the first game. With just 1:21 left on the clock, the Ephs’ Andree Heller landed a shot in the back of the net. A minute later Eliza Noyes scored, and just a few minutes after that Hanna Beattie scored on an empty netter, leaving the Bears with a disappointing defeat.
“We had 15 to 20 shots in that period, and still couldn’t score—it happens,” O’Neil said of the third period in Friday’s game. “The third period was probably our best period of the game.”
Although Marné Gallant ’17 agreed that the team played pretty well, she said she felt a bit differently about Friday’s play.
“Everyone was really fired up because we knew we were so close to them—we knew we had a shot,” Gallant said. “But everyone was pretty antsy though, and we weren’t doing things exactly right because of nerves.”
Gallant took this to heart as she fired a shot from the right point that slid through to the low post just two minutes into Saturday’s game. However, Williams got right back on the board with a goal from Talia Simon. As the period ended, MacNeil flipped a backhander over the Williams goalie’s shoulder. Going into the third period with a 3-2 lead, Bowdoin felt confident—however with just eight minutes remaining, Michaela Levine of Williams wristed a shot in the top right shelf from low on the opposite side to leave Bowdoin with their second loss of the weekend.
Not only did Bowdoin leave the weekend with a pair of losses, but they were also defeated in a rivalry match that goes deeper than statistics. O’Neil, a member of the Class of 2005 and the current coach of Bowdoin’s team, previously coached at Williams; Williams’ current coach, Megan Gillis ’07, is a Bowdoin alum who played alongside O’Neill for two years. Gillis ranks as the third-highest goal-scorer of all time—six spots ahead of O’Neil.
“The team played pretty well,” said Crofton, who saved a total of 48 goals this weekend. “We had a pretty successful practice beforehand and we prepared relatively well. What we have been emphasizing is that we need to not play to not lose, but rather play to win.”
The Polar Bears will likely take this advice going into this weekend in a matchup against another tough NESCAC opponent, Trinity. Bowdoin will host the Bantams in Watson Arena at 7 p.m. tonight and tomorrow at 3 p.m.