The women’s ice hockey team fell to No. 4 Middlebury College (11-1-3 overall, 6-0-2 NESCAC) twice last weekend at Watson Arena, bringing their record down to 8-5-3 (4-3-1 NESCAC).
“There are only a few things we didn’t do well,” said Head Coach Marissa O’Neil. “Being able to execute in front of the net was probably our greatest challenge this weekend—certainly not for lack of trying—but just being able to capitalize on the opportunities. Some of that’s better habits, some of that’s breaks and getting past the goalie, whether it’s pretty or ugly.”
Last Friday, the Panthers took the early lead with a goal just over five minutes into the first period. Middlebury’s Victoria Laven shot through traffic just inside of the left post. The Panthers continued to dominate the opening period, outshooting Bowdoin 13-2.
Fifty six seconds into the second period, Middlebury forward Janka Hlinka took a feed from Jessica Young and scored, giving the Panthers a two-goal lead.
“I think we were a little hesitant during the first period,” said Maddie Baird ’15. “But we settled down after that. We were moving our feet well, moving the puck well. We were winning battles in the corners and winning battles all over the ice. The only issue was we just couldn’t put the puck in the net. We were around the net a lot, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Rachel Kennedy ’16 broke through at 2:45, deflecting a shot from Miranda Bell ’18 into the net and through the knee pads of Panther goalie Annabelle Jones.
The two teams traded goals in the third, both of which were put in off of rebounds. For the Panthers, Maddie Winslow failed to put away an initial attempt, but Young netted the next shot. Chelsea MacNeil ’15 shot, but was denied her initial bid. Kennedy made her second shot of the night after killing off a 6-on-4 Bowdoin power play. The netter went through traffic before getting past Jones, putting the score at 3-2.
Middlebury sealed off the win with an unassisted goal from Emily Fluke.
“I was really proud of the way we played and unfortunately we weren’t able to get the wins,” said O’Neil. “But obviously Middlebury is a great opponent—has been for years.”
Goalie Lan Crofton ’17 suffered a sprained ankle mid-game and Beth Findley ’16 took over for the night and in the subsequent game against Middlebury.
In the second contest of the weekend the Polar Bears faced off against the Panthers with high hopes once again, holding their own until the last few minutes of the first period. Middlebury broke the stalemate at the end of the first with two goals off of rebounds from Katie Sullivan and Elizabeth Wulf.
Young cleaned up another rebound in the beginning of the third. Fluke extended the Panther’s lead to 4-0 shortly after. Bowdoin finally spoiled Middlebury’s power play with a vengeful response as Baird put up the first point for the Polar Bears.
Winslow shot a diving puck back into the net in the third. With 1:23 left in the game, the Polar Bears’ MacNeil collected and netted the puck.
“Overall we’ve had a little bit of trouble getting into the dirty spots and getting the rebounds,” said Crofton. “They don’t have to be the prettiest goals but we’ve been working on that the whole year.”
The Panthers bested Bowdoin again that night with a final score of 5-3.
The Polar Bears now go into a two-game NESCAC series against Williams which begins at 7 p.m. today.
“Williams is a team that is a lot better than their record shows,” said O’Neil. “In terms of us not being able to put pucks in the net—though we did score goals over the weekend—they don’t have one set goalie they rely on, there are a couple. We use our defense [in practice] to mimic what they are doing and look for more creative ways to score.”
Bowdoin faced the Ephs last year in the NESCAC Championship, losing the contest 4-1. This loss is fresh in the minds of the returning players. William’s Head Coach, Meghan Gillis ’07, is a Bowdoin graduate and former teammate of Bowdoin’s O’Neil ’05. Both alumna won NESCAC rookie of the year in 2004 and 2001 respectively.
“They’re pretty gritty by the net”, said O’Neil. “So we’re making sure we clear bodies out of the way and that our goalies make the first save and don’t give them the second and third chances.”