Maggie Godley ’16

Athlete of the Week: Colleen Finnerty '15

Field Hockey

Colleen Finnerty ’15 scored three goals on penalty corners in the field hockey team’s 9-1 win over Connecticut College on Saturday and added an assist in Tuesday’s 7-1 win over Rhodes. The Polar Bears allowed only four shots in its victory Tuesday.
Finnerty, a defender and team captain, has scored four goals in three games and commands the left side of a defensive unit that has allowed just five goals in 13 games. Connecticut College’s lone goal in the game came just as time expired after the Bowdoin starting defense had been pulled.
Finnerty has taken penalty corners all season for the team, and she believes the team’s 34-goal scoring streak over five games results partially from conversions on these set plays. Penalty corners are widely considered a team’s best chance of scoring, and Finnerty estimated that as many as four of the five goals scored against Williams, and about five of seven scored against Southern Maine, were scored off of corners.
“She’s the quarterback of the corner,” captain Pam Herter ’15 said. “She’s involved in every single goal we score off of the corner, regardless of whether she’s the one who puts the ball in the back of the net.”
Rhodes’ goal on Tuesday also represented the first time Bowdoin’s starters had allowed a goal off of a penalty corner.
“I don’t think this is a stat you could look up, but if you could, you’d see how many defensive saves she had.” Herter said. “She’s really robbed a lot of teams of their goals.”
While Finnerty is the oldest of Bowdoin’s nearly impenetrable defensive line, she has arguably the least experience at the position, and perhaps at the game itself. An ice hockey player first, she picked up field hockey in high school when she was required to fill her fall season. Field hockey was an obvious choice. “If it has anything to do with hockey, you play it,” she said.
Finnerty came to Bowdoin to play ice hockey and walked on to the field hockey team, though Head Coach Nicky Pearson was already aware of her. Finnerty’s high school coach is a Bowdoin Field Hockey alumna and was eager to refer a potential Polar Bear for recruitment. Pearson has been tremendously successful at developing ice hockey players to excell at field hockey, despite their comparatively limited experience with the game. Such players are often able to leverage the athleticism they gain from ice hockey to create advantages for themselves, and Finnerty is no exception.
“She pops up where you have no idea how she got there or where she came from,” Kim Kahnweiler ’16 said.
Pearson also acknowledges that Finnerty’s experience playing ice hockey can be seen when playing field hockey.
“She’s always had a great stick and good hands,” she said. “She stops the ball cleanly and handles the ball well.”
A forward on the ice, she started as a field hockey midfielder before transitioning to defense her junior year so she could help fill the holes created by graduated seniors.
An offensive-minded player by nature, Finnerty worried about this transition to defense, but was told she could roam up the field as long as she could get back to play defense. In addition, Pearson teaches the entire team to move forward and backward with the ball, so the defense can move as far up the field as the offensive 25-yard-line.
“I had to learn how to play defense last year,” Finnerty said. “It’s a different set of skills that you have to learn to use all of the time.”
“At this point I’ve stopped worrying about whether she’s going to get back,” Kahnweiler said. “There were times when we were still learning that I would get a little nervous. Now I wouldn’t give it a second thought. “
“She’s key in our transition game and also a scoring threat.” added Pearson. “She truly has an impact all over the field.”

Athlete of the Week: Adrienne O’Donnell ’15

Field Hockey

Adrienne O’Donnell ’15 scored twice and assisted once in Bowdoin’s NESCAC quarterfinal win against Hamilton last Saturday. This leaves the right forward with seven goals and nine assists this season, tying her for fourth highest assist total in the conference and ninth in points.
Until starting as forward this season, O’Donnell had been a midfielder for most of her field hockey career. O’Donnell’s speed allows her to win individual matchups and create space for her teammates.
“Athletically, she’s fit enough to run the midfield,” Coach Nicky Pearson said. “The right midfield has always been an offensive position for us.”
Pearson added that O’Donnell’s passing and defensive skills have developed through her time in the midfield.
“One of the biggest adjustments we’ve seen is her decision-making,” she said. “When players are as fast as she is, they have to make decisions a little bit quicker.”
O’Donnell said that Pearson had mentioned the possibility of a position switch at the end of last year given her similarities to predecessor Katie Riley’s ’14 style of play and her self-described designation as an offensive midfielder. She then spent part of her summer playing forward in pick-up leagues and working on her scoring techniques. She also improved her strength and speed. Captain Colleen Finnerty ’15—the left defender who is often matched against O’Donnell in practices—said that she started the year in the best shape of her career.Despite lacking the ice hockey background of many of her teammates, O’Donnell may be the team’s fastest player.
Finnerty believes that O’Donnell enjoys a speed advantage over almost every defender she faces.
Since teams as a defensive strategy try to clog the middle of the field, Pearson’s teams have often looked to move the ball out wide. The right side of the field is often the more desirable attacking side because it is both the stick side for the offense and the weak side for the defense. Althought the team tries to balance its attack, both of O’Donnell’s goals came from attacks up the left side. O’Donnell has the ability to carry the ball 50 to 75 yards up the field as a result of the team’s desire to move up and down the field as one unit.
“She gets the ball on her defensive 25 yard line and can beat defenders with a simple pull-right and carry the ball into the circle,” said Rachel Kennedy ’16.
Kennedy has benefited tremendously from O’Donnell’s passing and ability to stretch the field; Kennedy is responsible for 40 percent of the team’s goals, which boasts the second-most prolific offense in the NESCAC.
“If you look at the stats, there are a lot of goals and a lot of assists, which I think is key,” O’Donnell said. “Kimmy [Ganong ’17] and I try to beat our defenders and pop it back in the middle for Rachel [Kennedy].”
“She easily has at least 10 more [assists than she is credited for],” Finnerty said, “She could take the ball 75 yards and not get credit for it. There are so many things happening that affect our team’s success and she’s a part of so many of them.”
Assists in field hockey are only tallied if the eventual goal-scorer shoots immediately after receiving a pass. In terms of record-keeping even one additional move negates the assist.As the team looks to win another NESCAC championship, O’Donnell is still working on improving her game.
“There are definitely times in practice where she’ll make me look like I’ve never played field hockey before in my life,” Finnerty said. “But she’s always looking for something that will make her better. When I stop her, she’ll ask me questions like ‘What was another move I could have done?’ or ‘How difficult was that to defend?”

Athlete of the Week

women's soccer

Alex Vasile

Orient Staff

October 31, 2014

Maggie Godley ’16 put away Bowdoin’s first two goals in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Colby and scored again in Tuesday’s win over Tufts. She has struck first for the Polar Bears in each of their last three games.

With the exception of an unassisted, 18-yard chip against Colby, Godley has consistently found herself in a place to score within the team’s aggressive offensive system.

A forward throughout high school and her first two years at Bowdoin, Godley moved to midfield this year but feels comfortable playing upfield on a team that puts an emphasis on getting numbers forward.

“With my background as a forward, I definitely favor attacking,” Godley said, “[Senior captain] Kaley Nelson is a very strong defender. I have faith that if I make an attacking run, she’ll be able to cover me.”

Nelson said that Godley’s technical skill and work ethic are her most admirable qualities.
“She is constantly willing to outwork her opponent,” Nelson said. “She is also incredibly versatile, knowing when to give the ball up or take a player on off the dribble.”

Godley said Bowdoin has attempted to get pressure behind the ball this season and move as a unit after forcing turnovers. The team has also tried to stretch the field as much as possible and dominate play with its speedy forwards. This takes possession away from the other team’s midfield.

“We try to vary the way we attack,” Godley said. “But for the most part, I would say we work it through the midfield, move it wide, and try to get it to our forwards. My favorite ball to get is one over the top where I can run to it, dribble and get past someone, taking it down the line to get a cross or a corner out of it.”

Because of the team’s style of play, Godley said she has not found as many scoring opportunities over the course of the season as she has seen recently.

“I prefer to cross,” she said. “On this team, anyone can score. My strength is setting up my teammates.”

Godley has scored four times and recorded three assists this season, tying her for second and third on the team in these categories respectively.

Her increased presence in the offense has added another threat to an already dangerous front line composed of Amanda Kinneston ’15 and captain Kiersten Turner ’16, along with hybrid midfielder Jamie Hofstetter ’16, who has assisted on a pair of Godley’s goals.

Godley started her soccer career as a child because her brother was also playing and her father thought it would be easier if they played the same sport. She made the decision to play in college because she has always enjoyed being on a team.

“Throughout high school and at Bowdoin, it’s always been the highlight of my experiences in school,” she said.

The Rhode Island native had always looked at Division III schools because of their academic rigor and was recruited by Maren Rojas, the predecessor of current Head Coach Brianne Weaver.

“I wanted to be a student first and an athlete second,” Godley said. “Making the decision to go to Bowdoin was more than just a soccer choice. You could get injured your first day and never play again.”

Despite being tied for second place in the conference heading into the NESCAC tournament, the squad has sometimes struggled to score this season. In the 11-team conference, Bowdoin is tied with three other teams for sixth-most goals scored.

The team does not have a single one of the NESCAC’s top scorers. So Godley may have to continue her current hot streak for the team to make a deep postseason run. The Polar Bears will play a rematch against Tufts in tomorrow’s NESCAC quarterfinal on Pickard field.

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