In a rematch of last year’s NESCAC quarterfinal, the No. 2 seed Polar Bears (12-3-0) beat the No. 7 Tufts Jumbos (7-7-2) 4-0 in a quarterfinal match on Saturday. Bowdoin defeated Tufts in the final game of the regular season, winning 3-1 thanks to a strong performance from goalkeeper Bridget McCarthy ’16.
The Polar Bears looked to McCarthy early as Tufts opened the game with two quality chances, McCarthy turned away the first Tufts shot under five minutes into the game. Five minutes later, the Jumbos looked as if they were going to put themselves on the board first when a long ball from a defender breached the Bowdoin back line. The pass led to an open shot which knocked off the post 11 minutes into the game.
Bowdoin soon regained control of the game. Just five minutes after the Tufts unsuccessful breakaway, the ball found its way to the foot of midfielder Abby Einwang ’15, who lofted a shot into the corner to give the Polar Bears the 1-0 lead.
Both teams fought hard to find the net in the rest of the first half, but Einwang remained the only one to score before the halftime whistle blew.
At the start of the second half the Polar Bears began to pull away. 60 minutes in, Jamie Hofstetter ’16 fed a ball through to Amanda Kinneston ’15, who slid a shot past the Tufts keeper to double the Polar Bears’ lead to 2-0.
Bowdoin never looked back—finishing the game 4-0 off a penalty kick from Hofstetter and a final goal from Julia Bottone ’17 to shutout the Jumbos 4-0.
The team’s effort on Saturday was fueled in part by its devastating loss to Tufts that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. They had the same quarterfinal matchup—but this time Bowdoin emerged as the winner.
“We were given a second chance,” said Hofstetter. “Everyone was extremely focused. We really wanted to destroy them this time around.”
The team had been mentally preparing for another shot at Tufts once they found out the final seeding for the NESCAC tournament. The loss last season was a common conversation in the locker room and was a great way to center the focus of the team for practices in preparation for the playoff game.
Because of Saturday’s win, the team will travel to Williams this weekend to face No. 3 seed Connecticut College (14-2-0). Both teams finished the regular season with an 8-2 record in the conference, but Bowdoin won their matchup 3-1 on October 18.
Bowdoin has yet to take home the NESCAC title despite appearances in the conference championship in 2007 and 2012.
Last season Bowdoin recieved an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after a quarterfinal loss in the NESCAC tournament. Although its 12 wins may be enough to recieve another at-large bid, a win this weekend would all but secure the Polar Bears a shot at the National Championship trophy.