The women’s hockey team earned a crucial three points last weekend beating Trinity (10-6-4, 5-5-2 NESCAC) on Friday night and tying on Saturday in Watson Arena. The team improved its overall record to 9-8-3 (4-5-3 NESCAC). Sophomore Arianna Bourque led the way with two goals and three assists and was named NESCAC Player of the Week.
On Friday night, the Polar Bears took time to find their footing, allowing Trinity to jump to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
“We had a good week in practice, but we came out pretty flat,” said Head Coach Marissa O’Neil. “We kind of took a back seat to Trinity and watched them play a little bit.”
Bowdoin fended off the early Bantam surge, and the score remained the same until early in the third period. That was when Colleen Finnerty ’15 scored off a pretty backdoor pass from Bourque. Later in the third, the two connected with another goal, this time with Finnerty finding Bourque on a similar cross-ice play to score the game-winning goal.
The third period was completely different story for the Polar Bears, as they were able to take control and dictate most of the play.
“In the third, we really had that sense of urgency,” O’Neil said. “We were all over them.”
Saturday’s rematch followed a similar course, with the Polar Bears struggling during the early minutes of the game. The Bantams scored two first period goals to jump out to a commanding 2-0 lead.
“I think we controlled play in the first [on Saturday], but we were down 2-0,” O’Neil said. “So similar result, but we played a lot better.”
The Polar Bears answered in the second, when Finnerty tallied her second goal of the weekend, assisted by Bourque.
Trinity added to its lead with an early third period goal, but Bowdoin responded with two late goals to tie the game. Bourque scored her second goal of the weekend to cut the lead to one, and captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15 tied the game only 18 seconds later.
After a few close chances for both teams, the game ended in a tie, leaving the Polar Bears just behind the Bantams for fourth place—though they now own the tiebreaker.
Bourque’s play has really taken a step forward this year after her first-year campaign; she leads the Polar Bears with seven goals and nine assists for a total of 16 points. This was her second time this season being named NESCAC Player of the Year, an honor that she struggled to put into words.
“I don’t really know how I feel about it,” Bourque said. “This is kind of new for me.”
O’Neil believes that she deserves all the accolades.
“The kid is just an absolute competitor,” O’Neil said. “She puts a lot of pressure on herself and is rising to the occasion at the right time—just an incredible team player.”
Recently, the Polar Bears have received exceptional play from both goalies—Lan Crofton ’17 and Beth Findley ’16—a luxury that most teams do not have. The pair made a total of 53 saves over the weekend and share a similar save percentage— .906 and .918 respectively.
A key difference between the goaltenders is that they use opposite hands to catch the puck, where Lan is a lefty—or a “regular” catcher—Findley is a full right catcher. O’Neil believes that splitting time between them leaves opponents at a disadvantage, as they have to face two different goalies that catch different ways each weekend.
“It’s really nice to be able to play both in the NESCAC,” O’Neil said. “It’s just a totally different look.”
Looking forward, the Polar Bears have four crucial games left, two against Hamilton this weekend and then two against Amherst next weekend. Both O’Neil and Bourque stressed the importance of starting on a strong note this weekend against Hamilton.
“The biggest thing for us is playing 60 minutes of hockey,” O’Neil said. “That’s what we’ve struggled with—there are such momentum shifts—but we need our lows to be not as low.”