Courtney Gallagher
Number of articles: 23First article: October 25, 2013
Latest article: November 18, 2016
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Field hockey advances effortlessly to another Final Four with 5-1 win
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New coaching duo prepares men's hockey team for season debut
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Women’s soccer comes up short in title game, advances to NCAAs with at-large bid
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Women’s lacrosse loses in NESCAC quarters to Jeffs
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Women’s lax .500 after rough start in 'CAC
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New coaching duo prepares men's hockey team for season debut
This weekend, the men’s ice hockey team will look to start their season off well with new Head Coach Jamie Dumont at the helm. Dumont replaced Terry Meagher, who coached the team for the past 33 seasons.
Dumont, however, is no stranger to the program. He began his assistant coaching career at Bowdoin in 2001, assisting in the recruitment of many All-NESCAC and All-American players until 2005 when he left to coach in Europe, in the American Junior Hockey League and at Division I Bowling Green State University before returning to Bowdoin in 2011. Upon his return, Dumont assisted Meagher in tallying 83 victories and a remarkable .681 winning percentage, as well as two NESCAC titles.
“Dumont definitely has his own style. It’s the same in some ways and different in ways. Meagher is a legacy and will always have a place in Bowdoin hockey, but coach Dumont is definitely bringing his own style this year,” said Sebastian Foster ’19. “He is very into fast-paced practices and has been a little more up tempo this year, and hopefully that leads to good results for us.”
Dumont is not the only coaching change that has been made this season—Eric Graham, former head coach at North Yarmouth Academy, was named assistant coach and is brand new to the Bowdoin program.
“He is a local guy that has done a really good job building up the North Yarmouth Academy program and has had a handle at developing college players,” Dumont said. “His handle on recruiting and networking is outstanding. He has done a really good job stepping in here and having a great relationship with our players.”
While the team is excited about its new coaching staff, the loss of key leaders of the Class of 2016—Chris Fenwick, Matt Rubinoff and Johnny Malusa—calls for new leaders to take their spots this year. However, both the coaches and players alike are confident that this void can be filled.
“We had some really good leadership and character last year from the graduating seniors,” Dumont said. “But if you are graduating some good people, you are doing some good things. The big thing for us, I think, is that those guys were really good role models and really led the way so that our seniors can adapt to that role this year.”
Likewise, the players are confident that they have prepared the team with the leadership, coaching and teamwork needed to have a successful season.
“Dumont understands the history and tradition that the hockey program was built on and that is clear in his approach,” said Camil Blanchet ’18. “As players, we are confident and excited about our first opportunity to play under him on Friday.”
This weekend, the Polar Bears will kick off their season with a double-header at home—facing Williams at 7 p.m. on Friday, followed by Middlebury at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Polar Bears hope to sweep the weekend and avenge last year’s season-opening 4-1 loss to Williams.
“Williams is a fast, skilled and disciplined team. They are always tough to play against. We’re excited to see how we match up with them,” Blanchet said. “It should be a good measuring stick for us. Our goal is to get four points this weekend.”
Dumont plans to play many first years this weekend in order to get them accustomed to college hockey. Despite their inexperience, Dumont has high hopes for all of them in their upcoming games and the rest of the season.
“We have some really talented first years, especially on paper,” Dumont said. “We knew coming in that they would have a lot of good qualities, but the rubber hits the road now that they are playing different teams and the referee is on the ice and the clock is on.”
“It will be a challenge for them, but we really like what we see so far,” Dumont added. “There are going to be some growing pains, just like anything else. The big thing about that first year group is [that] their outstanding coachability has been through the roof.”
Looking at the upcoming season, both Dumont and his players are ready to come out strong and battle in each game, just like they have in previous years. Dumont plans to retain the positive culture of the Bowdoin hockey team and capitalize on their past success.
“We have a really good core of leaders in our senior class that have seen what it is like to win a championship their [first] year, and they are certainly eager and ambitious to go out as champions,” Dumont said. “We have a great great nucleus of players. The juniors and seniors are eager to lead and willing to play hard for the jersey and play hard for their teammates.”
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Men's soccer to face defending national champion Amherst
Bowdoin men’s soccer will face defending national champion Amherst (14-1-1, 8-1-1 NESCAC) in the NESCAC Semifinals on Saturday after defeating No. 2 Tufts (9-5-2, 6-2-2 NESCAC) last Saturday during the Polar Bears’ quest for their third consecutive NESCAC title.
Amherst took the top NESCAC seed this year, making this the fifth season it has entered the tournament seeded first or second. The team has dominated the league over the past few years with its size and physicality.
“They like to put a lot of big guys on the field,” said goalkeeper Noah Safian ’17. “They do not play pretty soccer by any means. They just blast the ball up the field—but I guess it works for them. They won the national championship last year and ranked No. 1 in the country for most of this year. They had a lot of success this year; it is not pretty, but it is effective.”
The matchup is daunting as Amherst has only lost one game all season. That one loss, however, was a 3-0 defeat by Tufts, who the Polar Bears beat twice in the same week. The team is optimistic going into the match, but doesn’t underestimate Amherst’s dominance on the pitch.
“We really have to be almost perfect,” said Safian. “Having that concentration and discipline to see when your teammate messes up, that you will be there to fix it every single time. We have to have that discipline, dedication and concentration.”
The team has a lot of success to build off of going into this weekend, particularly from Safian, who has had a stand-out performance in the team’s past few games. Despite only having a few hours of playing time in the first 10 matches of the season, he’s stepped up as starting goalkeeper since Stevie Van Siclen ’18 went out with an injury in the team’s match against Trinity in the beginning of October. The team hasn’t lost a match with Safian starting in goal; he has racked up 30 saves over the last six games.
In the quarterfinal match against Tufts, Safian played a critical role for the Bowdoin defense, preserving the Bears’ lead with a diving save in the final minutes.
“Safian had some major saves,” said Ely Spencer ’20. “I think there were only four saves, but they were key saves that really helped us stay in the game and keep our lead.”
Although Bowdoin was on the defensive for most of the second half, in which Tufts claimed an 18-11 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks, the Polar Bears handled this pressure with poise and strategy and were able to edge the Jumbos in shot accuracy and with a tough defensive line.
“There were a lot of good last-minute defensive [plays] from the whole back line,” Safian said, “A lot of guys stepped up and made really good plays.”
“They were looking pretty dangerous at a point and had a couple of chances they probably should have scored on,” said Spencer. “We just held on like we’ve done in a lot of games. In the regular season that has kind of been our whole attitude; we have just been able to find a way to win games.”
The team hopes to continue to find a way to win tomorrow when they travel to Amherst to face off in the NESCAC Semifinals at 1:30 p.m.
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Men’s lacrosse edges Wesleyan to enter NESCAC semifinals for first time in four seasons
After a nail-biting loss in overtime against Wesleyan during the regular season, the third-seeded Polar Bears avenged themselves against the sixth-seeded Cardinals this past Saturday on their own turf. The win over the Cardinals vaulted Bowdoin into the semifinal round of the NESCAC playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Going into the postseason, Bowdoin had racked up six NESCAC wins—with narrow wins over tough opponents such as Williams, Middlebury, Trinity and Bates—making the team a frontrunner entering the NESCAC tournament.
“We had some good wins and started playing very well and carried that momentum through,” said Head Coach Jason Archbell about regular season play. “The overtime win against Middlebury was big, as well as the win against Bates. These two wins against two particularly good teams, who were in the top 10, were key. We just started clicking and connecting, and that’s important.”
The Polar Bears came in strong in the first quarter by starting the game with a goal by Daniel Buckman ’18 just 50 seconds in. The Cardinals quickly answered with a goal less than a minute later, evening the score.
The first quarter continued with multiple shots on goal by Sam Carlin ’19, Buckman, Clayton Wright ’19, Alex Osgood ’17, Matthew Crowell ’18 and Sean Offner ’16. Success came for Bowdoin when Brett Kujala ’17 scored off an assist from Shawn Daly ’18, putting the Bears once again in the lead.
Following Kujala’s goal, Daly scored back-to-back goals giving Bowdoin a 4-1 edge over Wesleyan. The Cardinals would not, however, go quietly. In the last four minutes of the quarter, they scored two goals to end the first quarter with a tight score of 4-3.
The second quarter started off with a back-and-forth as the ball seesawed between the Cardinals and Polar Bears. Bowdoin struck first when Crowell found the back of the net three minutes in. After a goal by the Cardinals, the Polar Bears went on a three-goal surge, with a pair of goals from Kujala and one from Wright. Despite continued attempts on goal from both sides, Wesleyan was able to find the back of net twice—cutting the Bowdoin lead to 8-6 going into halftime.
The second half was tight, with both teams taking many shots on net.
“The second half was more of a defensive battle,” Archbell said. “Both teams were adjusting, and we had some shots on goal but just didn’t sink them.”
Peter Mumford ’17 made a number of outstanding saves in the second half, making the difference and allowing the Bears to maintain their lead.
“Mumford has been playing really well and played well the entire game. He really stepped it up,” said Archbell.
The game remained tight when Wesleyan scored a pair of goals, while Osgood added another goal, leaving Bowdoin with a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
The last quarter was a battle, but the Polar Bears proved resilient with a strong defensive line and an aggressive offense that produced many tough shots on goal. With only 2:56 left in the game, Kujala snuck another one in the net, leaving the score at 10-8 and giving the Polar Bears an insurance goal and a ticket to the NESCAC semifinals.
Bowdoin will face off against Middlebury this weekend. Earlier in their regular season matchup, the Polar Bears shut out the Panthers in overtime.
“Middlebury is very fundamental—there is nothing particularly flashy about them,” said Daly. “However, there are also no big strengths or big weaknesses. We have to go out strong and be very aggressive.”
After a successful season, the Polar Bears are looking forward to nothing less than a NESCAC title.
Bowdoin will play against Middlebury tomorrow in the NESCAC semifinals at Tufts at 3 p.m.
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Men’s basketball fights to keep season alive
Winter Break brought stiff competition for the Bowdoin’s men’s basketball team, as they played seven games against quality teams, five of which were NESCAC opponents. The team ended the break just under .500 for the span, winning three and losing four. They defeated St. Joseph’s (ME), Bridgewater State and Bates, but fell short against Tufts, Williams, Amherst and Trinity.
The Bears saw a successful start to the break by registering a quick win against in-state rival St. Joseph’s by a score of 86-66. Senior Lucas Hausman and Jack Simonds ’19 collected 17 and 20 points each, respectively. This win put the Bears at 6-3 for the fall semester. The new year put the Bears in the thick of NESCAC competition with games against Tufts, Bates, Williams, Amherst, Trinity and Colby. The Bears went 2-4 in conference.
“The NESCAC is always really competitive—it usually puts in three or four teams into NCAAs, and it differs every year,” said Matthew Palecki ’16. “There are a lot of talented players. I would say it is probably the best DIII basketball league in the country. Every year you need to make sure you come out with your best.”
The two wins happened to be against the Bears’ biggest rivals—Bates and Colby. After a tough loss against Tufts just the day before, the Bears bounced right back on January 8, defeating Bates in a heated game. Hausman led the team to victory with 42 of the team’s 84 points. Underclassmen Liam Farley ’18 and Tim Ahn ’19 stepped up midway through the first period and ignited a 14-4 run, putting Bowdoin up 27-18 at the 9:09 mark. The lead that Farley and Ahn established held throughout the rest of the game.
After the Bates game, the Bears lost the next three consecutive NESCAC games against Williams, Amherst and Trinity, in heartbreakers.
“In games we have been really inconsistent—some stretches really good and some not as much,” said Head Coach Tim Gilbride.
The Bears were undeterred by the few losses. They rebounded with a win against Colby this past Saturday.
“It was a must-win game for us for the playoffs, and I thought our team responded really, really well,” said Paleki. “Obviously Colby is a really big rival for us so we have to make sure we are up and have energy for that game.”
The Bears started off strong against Colby, carrying a 42-30 lead going into halftime. The Mules, though, fought back in the beginning of the second half with a 15-point run closing the Bears’ seemingly insurmountable lead. The score remained tight, but Hausman ended it with a three-pointer to seal the victory.
“I thought the team played extremely well on both ends of the floor,” said Palecki. “We took care of the basketball—everyone from the first to the last—and that is what we need to do to win.”
The victory against Colby also brought some bad news. Palecki sprained his ankle during the game
“Matt Palecki got injured early on so both Jack Bors [’19] and Jack Simonds stepped up,” said Hausman. “A bunch of people contributed so we were able to pull it out in the end.”
As a younger team with nine underclassmen and five upperclassmen, many have had to step it up this year to compete against the more experienced players, as well as to fill the loss of veteran starting players, Bryan Hurley ’15, Keegan Pieri ’15 and John Swords ’15.
“We now don’t have a seven-foot center… Jake [Donnelly ’16] has done a great job stepping into those big shoes and commanding our offense and taking it to where it needs to be,” said Palecki. “Obviously it is going to be difficult when you lose those big players. Everyone stepped up accordingly.”
The win over Colby was essential for the Bears to qualify for the NESCAC playoffs.
“We will need to come together as a unit for the rest of the games, and buy into what Coach wants us to do both on offense and on defense,” said Hausman. “I am very optimistic of our chances to make the tournament.”
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Field hockey advances effortlessly to another Final Four with 5-1 win
After two NCAA DIII Field Hockey Championship victories this weekend on their home field, the top-ranked Polar Bears (20-0) advanced to the national semifinals, where they will play Ursinus College tomorrow at 11 a.m. at host site Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
In Saturday afternoon’s Sweet Sixteen matchup, Bowdoin took down Keene State by a 5-1 score. It was the the second time in program history that the Bears defeated the Owls in the NCAA tournament, the first being in 2011.
Junior Kimmy Ganong’s goal off a rebound six minutes into the game gave Bowdoin an early lead. However, just four minutes later, the Owls bounced back with a goal of their own. The ball came bouncing into the circle through a pair of defenders and pushed past Clara Belitz ’17.Keene kept the score even at 1-1 for another 10 minutes by staying strong on the defensive end, denying five shots and successfully defending a pair of corners.
“I was pretty shocked that they answered right away with a shot that dribbled in,” Ganong said. “I think when that happens, we always remember to stay calm and not get worked up and remember that we have the rest of the game left to play.”
Bowdoin finally broke through at the 22:30 mark, as Ganong again found the back of the net, this time off of a broken corner feed from Kelsey Mullaney ’16. Less than two minutes later, Kelsey Bumgardner ’18 sent a rebound to the far left post, finding Liz Znamierowski ’16 for a goal. In the final four minutes of the half, Rachel Kennedy ’16 added a goal of her own, putting the Bears up 4-1 going into halftime
“I think their response was that they were upset that they let that goal in earlier in the game, and they stepped up and responded really well,” Head Coach Nicky Pearson said.
The second half was quieter, except for the final Polar Bears goal 22 minutes in. Kennedy tallied an assist, setting up Sarah Jane Weill ’18 for the shot on goal. Bowdoin outshot the Owls 30-2 on the day and held a 12-1 advantage in penalty corners.
“Although the score was 5-1, which seems like a lot to a little, I think we could have scored a lot more goals because had so many chances.” Ganong said, “You will never know if your first shot is what decides the game, or your last shot. This is why the second half we came out strong, held them out of our defensive end and kept pressuring them.”
The Bears advanced to the quarterfinal round the next day against Wellesley, who had blanked the University of New England 3-0 on Howard Ryan Field the day before. Bowdoin faced a drastic change in the style of play of its opponents.
“Keene is more of a direct team—putting up more aerials and big balls. Wellesley was more of a small passing, game possession-type team,” said Pearson. “It was important that our defense was compact and took away things that the opposition felt comfortable doing. Making these defensive adjustments were critical.”
Kennedy gave the Bears their first goal of the game only four minutes in by successfully converting a penalty stroke—her 100th career goal. Kennedy then scored a second goal towards the end of the first half. Meredith Tibbals ’18 brought the ball inside Wellesley’s defensive 25, where she found Juliana Fiore ’18. Fiore successfully worked her way toward the end line, where she sent a pass to Kennedy at the right post for the goal. The third and final goal of the first half, and the game, came from Ganong with just seconds remaining on the clock.
“Scoring that third goal in the first half with only ten seconds left was huge.” Bumgardner said, “It was a great drive into the circle from [Mullaney] and a perfect deflection into the top left corner from Kimmy.”
Wellesley’s goal keeper, Lucy Hurlock, shut out the Polar Bears in the second half, denying ten shots and six corners. But the game had been decided in the first half, and Bowdoin emerged with a 3-0 win and a bid into the national semifinal.
We needed to want it more and we did. Both teams were fighting for their seasons and this win was a trip to the Final Four,” said Bumgardner.
Ursinus got its ticket to the semifinals with a 5-0 win over Rochester in the round of eight. If the Polar Bears advance, they will meet the winner of Middlebury—Bowdoin’s foremost NESCAC rival—versus The College of New Jersey—the team that defeated the Polar Bears in last year’s national championship game.
“I definitely feel so confident with this team. Just from the past few weekends, finishing off the regular season undefeated, winning NESCACS, and playing our first rounds of NCAAs so well, I really feel that this team is beginning to peak at the perfect time. I don’t have any doubt that we will win,” Ganong said, “We are going into this weekend and we want to come out 2-0 with a national championship and I definitely think we can do it.”
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Women’s soccer comes up short in title game, advances to NCAAs with at-large bid
This weekend consisted of both an impressive win and a heartbreaking loss for the Bowdoin women’s soccer team. After beating Trinity in the semifinals of the NESCAC Championship on Saturday, the team fell the very next day in a brutal battle for the crown to top-seeded Williams. The win gives Williams its seventh NESCAC title in the past 10 years.
The weekend started out with the semifinals against the Trinity College Bantams, an opponent who beat the Polar Bears earlier in the season, with a late-game goal.
“Losing to Trinity in the regular season definitely stung for us because we knew that we were the stronger team,” Sarah Wallace ’16 said, “We had a calm confidence going into the Trinity game in the NESCAC semis, and a strong desire to prove ourselves to the league.”
Bowdoin came out on top in their rematch against the Bantams. From the get-go, Bowdoin kept their control, stringing together passes and maintaining possession. Evan Fencik '17 capitalized on the team’s ball control by dribbling up the right side of the field and scoring off of a cross in the fifteenth minute. This left Bowdoin with a 1-0 advantage at the end of the first half.
“We went into the second half as if it was a new game—like it was 0-0. We knew we needed to work just as hard, if not harder,” Coach Brianne Weaver said of her team. “We knew we needed to keep the intensity and focus. We wanted to make sure we played the way we wanted to play.” Trinity came out strong in the second half, attacking at the offensive position and taking three shots, all of which Bridget McCarthy ’16 successfully saved.
The Bantam’s inability to convert on a corner kick gave Bowdoin the win. Despite Trinity outshooting Bowdoin by a 9-5 margin, the Polar Bears edged the Bantam’s 6-3 in corner kicks—bringing them to the NESCAC finals against rival Williams.
The team came out strong against Williams, eager to emerge with a win after losing to them in overtime during the regular season. They knew Sunday’s game would be a battle until the very end.
“Our main focus was to come out stronger than our opponent and set the tone before Williams was able to,” Wallace said. “We wanted to catch them on their toes, because they are a team that loses their confidence when they are scored on first.”
Bowdoin executed this game plan well at first. In the first 25 minutes of the game, it was the Polar Bears who were on the attack.
“We were the first team to get a shot off. One of our shots in the first 10 minutes of the game was just barely saved off of the goal line by a William’s defender,” Captain Rachel Brooke '16 said.
Taylor Haist '17 was behind this close shot, kicking it to Julia Patterson '19 who headed it towards the goal. The attempt on the goal was made in the first five minutes of the game, but Williams’ Tressa Palcheck saved it.
“We were successful in catching them while they were shaky and nervous, but luck was not on our side in allowing us to put it away,” Wallace said.
At the start of the second half, Bowdoin started to lose track of their positioning and Williams quickly took advantage of this. After just nine minutes, Williams’ Natalie Turner-Wyatt scored, catching the top corner of the net, giving the Ephs a 1-0 lead. The Polar Bears held them off for another 30 minutes until Kristi Kirshe doubled Williams’ lead to seal the win for Williams.
“The game did not end in our favor, but I was so proud of how hard we worked and how we came together as a team,” Wallace said. “We had a team who made it to the national finals last year on their toes for much of the game, and that is not something to take lightly.”
The team will look forward to the NCAA Championships with their first match-up against Johns Hopkins, ranked number 22 in the NCAA national DIII rankings. Hopkins also reached the Final Four last year, and happens to have a very similar game-style to Williams.
“I think the most important thing that I want to see from our team [against Hopkins] is the realization that opportunities like this are rare and that we need to make the most of it,” Brooke said. “We all want to play our best soccer for each other and I think this level of compassion for one another sets us apart from our competition.”
Bowdoin will be facing off against Johns Hopkins on Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Hoboken, New Jersey.
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Kennedy ’16 sets record as field hockey marches on to NESCAC semifinals
The field hockey team made predictably short work of Bates in its NESCAC Championship quarterfinal matchup last Saturday, taking down the Bobcats 4-1 at home to advance to the semifinal round. The top-seeded Polar Bears will host fourth-seeded Amherst tomorrow at 11:00 am, and, with a win, will host the winner of Middlebury v. Tufts in the conference championship match on Sunday.
Within the first three minutes of the victory over Bates, Rachel Kennedy '16 became the program’s all-time leading scorer with her 93rd career goal. Later in the half she picked up her 94th. Kennedy eclipsed the 92-goal mark set by Lindsay McNamara ’09.
The accomplishment, while astounding, is nothing less than what the team expected of Kennedy, who they say has done nothing but dedicate herself to both her team and the game for the past four years.
“She is one of the most fiercely determined players on the field,” Liz Znamierowski '16 said of Kennedy. “She puts her heart and soul into every practice and every game—I don’t think a single person on this team had any doubt she’d break that record.”
Znamierowski, who has been a key contributor herself, fed Kennedy the pass that led to her history-making, goal. Kennedy was quick to attribute the record to the entire team’s efforts.
“Truthfully, they deserve the credit for it because they are the ones that were able to feed me the ball or set me up for easy shots,” Kennedy said. “Being a forward, it’s my responsibility to score goals, so it’s definitely a bit easier to be recognized over other positions on the field.”With at least one NESCAC tournament game and an assured NCAA tournament berth still ahead of her, Kennedy boasts 94 career goals and 206 career points. Of course, the numbers mean nothing if unaccompanied by a W on the stat sheet.
“Winning as a team is what matters most for me, and everything else is just bonus,” Kennedy said.
She’s in the right place. Now 16-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in all of D-III, the Polar Bears were heavily favored in their game against the Bobcats, who were in their first NESCAC playoff since 2010. After Kennedy’s first goal in the first few minutes, Bates quickly tied it up to 1-1. However, the Bears fired back soon after, starting with a goal from Kimmy Ganong ’17. 24 seconds later, Kennedy’s second goal of the day opened the lead to two. The lone goal of the second half was courtesy of Nicole Barbieri ’19.
Undefeated as it is in perhaps the nation’s toughest conference, the team has no plans to make any significant tactical adjustments going forward.
“We will continue to work on implementing the fundamentals in all of our games,” said Znamierowski. “Looking forward to Amherst, we’ll definitely be looking to play clean, stick-to-stick hockey, and make use of our core, fundamental skills.”
The team appears to be focused entirely on Amherst, despite the possibility of a championship matchup against archrival Middlebury. Bowdoin has faced off against Middlebury the last three years in the NESCAC finals, falling short of a win each time.
“I know this is a really important weekend for everyone on the team, especially the seniors because we’ve never won a NESCAC championship,” Kennedy said. “The most important thing is that we play to the standard that we know we can.”
When speaking of the possibility of a match-up against Middlebury again, the Bears always react in a similar way—they do not want to look too far ahead.“We’ve had an incredible season so far and we just want to prolong the season as long as possible,” Kennedy said.
If the team’s tournament run is prolonged past the semifinal stage, they’ll play for the conference title at noon on Sunday at Howard F. Ryan Field.
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Field hockey seeks first NESCAC title since 2011
The top-seeded field hockey team goes into the 2015 NESCAC Championship, which it is hosting this weekend, with a desire to add another championship to its list of accomplishments. The Polar Bears will start the weekend against eighth-seeded Bates in the quarterfinals.
Bowdoin views every team in the NESCAC as a tough opponent, no matter its seed.
“We always approach every game the same, regardless of our opponent,” Kelsey Mullaney ’16 said. “We focus on ourselves and what we do best.”
This season, Polar Bears have made game-to-game consistency an even larger point of emphasis than usual. They see this focus as an advantage going into the playoffs.
“We view our season as an upward trajectory with our last game being our best game of the season,” captain Kim Kahnweiler ’16 said. “If anything, this mindset calms us going into the NESCAC Championship because each game is just another game with the same goals as the last game.”
Bowdoin plans on focusing on often overlooked basics, such as first touch on the ball, correct defensive position and pass precision.The team sees these fundamental techniques as the root of any success on the field.
“We have made a point that they are not little things,” said Head Coach Nicky Pearson. “They will have a big impact during our games. In this way, we hold ourselves to a higher standard regarding these skills.”
While Bowdoin is ranked No. 1 among Division III teams in the country, the NESCAC is filled with other highly-ranked teams. Middlebury is No. 3 in the country, Tufts is No. 15, Amherst is No. 16 and Williams is No. 20.
The Polar Bears defeated all of these teams—and every other team they faced—this season, finishing the regular season with a perfect record in the NESCAC in going 10-0 against conference opponents. Despite the record, Polar Bears looks back to their regular season for not only confidence, but also to identify improvements they can make for the upcoming tournament.
“I feel incredibly excited about the team’s performance so far during the regular season. We don’t like to lose, so my mood has been pretty high,” Kahnweiler said. “What I like best about our team culture is that we leave every game, even if it was a blowout win, with a list of things to improve on. We don’t dwell on the wins for very long.”
Thanks in large part to Kahnweiler and a strong defense, Bowdoin leads the conference in fewest goals allowed per game at 0.66, permitting just 10 goals in 15 games.
Since 2011, Bowdoin has competed against Middlebury in the NESCAC Championship final every single year. However, the last time the Polar Bears beat Middlebury was in 2011. The past, however, does not affect the Bear’s confidence.
“Going into the tournament, keeping in mind our desire to win is essential,” Pearson said. “I really do think the team has a belief that they are going to win. It will come down to us playing better and wanting it more than our opponents.”
The Polar Bears play their quarterfinal game against the Bobcats tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Ryan Field.
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Sailing motivated after busy weekend
Competing against top-ranked teams in three different events at Dartmouth, Yale and Salve Regina, Bowdoin’s sailing team had a busy and tough weekend.
At Dartmouth on Saturday, the Bears competed in the Captain Hurst Bowl, a co-ed interconference regatta. Julia Rew ’16, Matt Lyons ’17, Jade Willey ’17, Nora Cullen ’18, Alex Vasiliou ’18, Jake Griffin ’18, Matt Kaplan ’19, and Jack Fullerton ’19 competed in the event, while alumni coach Peter Edmunds ’14 stepped in and coached the team. The Polar Bears were challenged by the cold and windy conditions but were still able to finish in 12th place out of 18 teams.
On Saturday, the temperature was in the 50s and there was a breeze from 5 to 15 knots. On Sunday, the conditions worsened, with temperatures falling below freezing and snow falling throughout the day. Despite the conditions, Bowdoin kept focus.
“There were long, oscillating shifts, and all of our teams were working on staying disciplined on the starting line and staying in phase [on the favored tack to the mark] throughout the race,” Rew said.
While not finishing in one of the top slots, the Bears were satisfied with their performance in such a competitive intersectional race. The Bears also left Dartmouth with a better understanding of where they stood and where they wanted to go.
“There were a lot of learning opportunities sailing against such a competitive fleet,” Rew said. “We were able to really work on our starting and making smart tactical decisions.”
The Yale Women’s Trophy, also this weekend, featured all of the top-tier teams in the country. Representing the Polar Bears were Erin Mullins ’16 and Olivia Diserio ’16 in the A Division and Mimi Paz ’17, Martie Ogle ’18 and Emily Salitan ’16 in the B Division. Despite the wavy and windy conditions and the high level of competition, the Bears finished strong. Mullins and Diserio finished 8th in their division, and in the B division, Paz, Ogle and Salitan finished 14th. Overall, the team placed thirteenth out of the eighteen competing teams.
For their third event, the Polar Bears traveled to Salve Regina in Newport, Rhode Island, to compete in the New England Sloop Championships in match racing. This is the first time the Bears have qualified for this championship since 2004. Despite the windy conditions, which seemed to be a consistent obstacle throughout all three events, and stiff competition, the Bears came out strong and finished in fourth place.
“This was the first time that we have qualified for the Sloop New England’s sailed at Salve, and we ended up 4th which was an amazing score in a highly competitive event,” Rew said.
Although Bowdoin had a rough beginning on Saturday, where they went 1-6 in their events, on Sunday going into the knockout round against the top seeded team, Brown, the Bears were able to overcome obstacles such as losing the first race and having a crewmember fall overboard in the second. In the third race, the Polar Bears were able to draw a penalty against Brown in the pre-start, and then again in the final run, which led to Bowdoin’s victory and a spot in the semifinals. Despite losing to Dartmouth 2-0 in the semifinals and then again to Yale 2-1 in the Petit Finals, the Power Bears nevertheless solidified their image as a tough team to be reckoned with among high-ranking competitors.
“These regattas gave us motivation to work even harder during practice and really push towards the end of the season,” Rew said. “We have been really focusing on the process and improving every practice, and I think that will pay off as we head into the championship season.”
The Polar Bears are back on the water this weekend, with races at Harvard, MIT and Boston College.
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Women’s lacrosse loses in NESCAC quarters to Jeffs
The second-seeded Amherst women’s lacrosse team cut the Polar Bears’ season short with an 11-5 NESCAC quarterfinal victory this past Saturday afternoon.
This is the fifth NESCAC tournament pairing between the two schools and Amherst improved its record against Bowdoin to 3-2 in tournament play and its overall record to 15-1 record. The Polar Bears ended their season with an 8-7 record.
“The record is not indicative of how strong our team is,” said Genna Warner ’15.
Play between the two teams was relatively even. The game started out with Caroline Holliday of Amherst scoring a quick goal, netting a wrap-around two minutes into the game.
Betsy Sachs ’14 tied up the game when she took immediate advantage of an Amherst foul 18 minutes into play, successfully converting a free-position attempt.
The Lord Jeffs quickly rallied back, with Holliday once again sneaking a shot past Isabel Sippel ’15 at the inside post with 11:41 left in the half. The Polar Bears responded when Lindsay Picard ’16 beat Amherst’s goalie, Christy Forrest, only three minutes later.
“It was a low-scoring game and everybody knew we needed to pick up the pace a little bit,” Picard said of her goal. “Everyone knew in the attack that we had to keep the ball moving, and that is what we did.”
Unfortuantely, just 1:08 after Picard’s goal, Elizabeth Ludlow linked up with Priscilla Tyler to put Amherst back on top, 3-2. At 5:50, Krista Zsitvay increased Amherst’s lead to 4-2, bouncing a shot into the Bowdoin goal. Zsitvay had her second score of the day less than a minute later, receiving a good feed from Amherst’s Devin O’ Connor. The Lady Jeffs struck another blow with 11 seconds left in the half, when Rachel Passarelli dodged a couple of Bowdoin defenders before ripping a high shot into the net. The first half ended with Amherst leading 6-2.
“There was a momentum shift, and it was hard to swing it back in our favor,” Warner said of the last few minutes of the first half. “They got too many goals on us, and it was hard to get it back.”
The Polar Bears refused to give up hope at the beginning of the second half.
“We came out knowing that we needed to work our hardest and get everything we had” Picard said. “The momentum shift just made us want to work harder.”
Motivated by the four-goal halftime deficit, Taylor Wilson ’15 fired a low shot into the left side of the cage with 21:10 remaining in the game. The would-be rally was cut short when Amherst’s Mia Haughton made a move toward the net before tucking a shot inside the near post, extending the Lady Jeff’s lead to 7-3.
The Polar Bears were unfazed though, as Jordan Smith ’14 put another goal on the board at 12:55. Smith’s goal was answered by Meghan Mills of Amherst, who scored consecutive goals inside of the 10-minute mark to further increase her team’s mounting lead.
Going a perfect 13-for-13 on clears, Amherst finished the game with a 27-8 shot advantage and a 14-5 edge in ground balls. The game marked the end of the season for the Polar Bears.
“We really have been getting better this whole season, and we were just getting into our stride,” Warner said. “We played as hard as we could. Our record does not show how much hard work we’ve put into our practices and play.”
Although disappointed in the outcome of the season, the team was not let down by their effort-level or the player improvements made throughout the season.
“In our first Amherst game, transitions were not great,” Warner said. “It was a night and day difference between this game against Amherst versus our past game.”
While the loss to Amherst was disappointing, the Polar Bears face an even greater disappointment with the loss of four seniors: Molly Popolizio, Jordan Smith, Betsy Sachs and Erica Nangeroni. Each athlete was an important force helping to keep the Bears in contention this past year.
“Our seniors were amazing, they loved the team—they could either make all of us crack up, or make us really focused, calm and motivated before the game,” Warner said.“I am going to miss them a lot.”
Confident in their depth and prowess, the team and players were motivated by this disappointing season and are sure to come out even stronger and better next season.
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Tennis squads see mixed results in matches at Middlebury
On Saturday, the women’s tennis team topped No. 10 Middlebury in a hard-fought match, winning by a final score of 5-4.
The Polar Bears have now won three in a row after losing to Amherst and Emory two weekends ago, and are now 13-4 (6-1 NESCAC).
“Emory and Amherst—although we lost both of them—we definitely learned a lot from them and they were close matches,” said Tiffany Cheng ’16. “[The games] proved to us that we are at the top level and can compete there.”
Tomorrow, the women will host Williams at 10 a.m. The Ephs are expected to be a tough opponent, according to the team.
“Regionals usually break down to us versus Middlebury,” said Cheng. “Last year we unfortunately lost and didn’t get the chance to advance to nationals. However this year we’ve got a pretty good shot.”
Cheng mentioned that the Polar Bears’ consistency in doubles matches has improved tremendously since last year.
“In the last couple matches we’ve been able to go up 2-1 even against the top schools in doubles, which was unusual last year,” she said.
MenThe men’s tennis team’s long ride home from Vermont felt even longer after an upsetting 7-2 loss to the No. 8 Middlebury Panthers last weekend.
Middlebury grabbed an early advantage by taking two of three doubles matches. The Polar Bears’ lone doubles win came from the No. 1 team of Sam King ’14 and Luke Trinka ’16. The No. 3 team of Chris Lord ’14 and Chase Savage ’16 fell by a heartbreaking match score of 9-8 (8-6).
During singles play, Savage saw an injury flare up within the first two points of his match.
“Against a tough team, even the littlest things will make a difference,” Hugh Mo ’17 said of Savage’s injury.
With Savage’s quick defeat, a series of other first set losses were set into motion. King was the next one to step off the court, with a straight set defeat to the Panthers’ Brantner Jones.
Trinka followed with a convincing win at the No. 2 position (6-3 6-2), which turned out to be the Polar Bears’ only singles win for the day. At No. 1, Noah Bragg ’15 battled the Panthers’ Alex Johnston into three sets, but ultimately lost.
The Polar Bears lost against Bates on Wednesday 5-4. The team returns to action at home tomorrow against Williams at 2 p.m. and again Sunday against Stevens.
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Men’s tennis comes back to upend MIT, takes care of Conn.
Last weekend the men’s tennis team fought off tough competition from MIT (5-4) and Connecticut College (7-2) to extend their win streak to five, while improving their NESCAC record to a perfect 2-0.
Although the weekend ended in victory, it did not have an auspicious beginning, as the Polar Bears lost all their doubles matches against MIT. With a 3-0 deficit heading into singles play, the team needed to win at least five of the six singles in order to snatch victory. To add further drama, all the singles matches were moved indoors after sunset.
“I remember saying to the team, ‘We will be out here as long as it takes,’” said Sam King ’14, “We knew we wanted it more than these guys, we were out there for the long haul.”
While Chris Lord ’14 and Kyle Wolstencroft ’15 made quick work of their opponents—winning straight sets at the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively—the pressure mounted after Luke Trinka ’16 lost in straight sets to the Engineers’ Edwin Zhang. The match came down to King, Chase Savage ’16 and Hugh Mo ’17.
King rallied back from a 6-0 loss in the first set with a 6-0 win in the second. He then overcame a determined opponent with a 6-2 win in the third set.
Mo split sets with his opponent, losing the first set 6-3 and rallying back to win the second 6-3. Keeping the momentum going, he took a convincing lead in the third set, finishing off his opponent 6-2.
“I knew the key to my success was to make it a physical battle,” Savage said of his match.
Although he won the first set in a 6-4 battle, the Engineers’ Jeffrey Bu won the second set. Savage fought off the second set loss, pulling out a resounding 6-0 win in the third set and clinching the match for the Bears with a 5-4 victory over the Engineers.
“It was more of a mental victory,” Head Coach Conor Smith. “It really was just straight belief.”
With the win against MIT still fresh in their minds, the Polar Bears faced Connecticut College on Sunday morning.
“We wanted to make sure we brought some energy,” said Savage. “On paper [Connecticut College] may not be as good, but we knew that it would be tougher than it needed to be if we sleep walked through the match.”
The Polar Bears took the lead in their doubles, going up 2-1 with wins from King and Wolstencroft at No. 1 (8-4) and Peter Davis ’14 and Eric Chien ’14 at No. 3 (8-1).
The early lead at doubles gave the Polar Bears some much needed breathing room going into the singles matches. Trinka took the first match, cruising past the Camels’ Josh Suneby in straight sets (6-2, 6-0). They then quickly mowed down their remaining opponents with Lord, Wolstencroft, Savage and Mo tallying victories at positions 3, 4, 5 and 6, to give the Bears a 7-2 victory over the Camels.
The team returns to action this weekend with a pair of tough league matches, playing at Tufts tomorrow at 10 a.m. and at home against Amherst on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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Rain douses baseball’s 9th-inning comeback
Ranked second in its division, the baseball team took two in a three-game series at Trinity last weekend.
Bowdoin beat the Bantams on Friday 4-2. The early innings were slow, but in the top of the fourth, the Polar Bears found their way to the scoreboard with a pair of runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Trinity’s pitcher hit Sean Mullaney ’17, before Kyle LeBlanc ’14 scored the next run on a groundout to second base.
The fifth inning saw Bowdoin add to its lead with another pair of runs. Peter Cimini ’16 hit a sacrifice fly, allowing Chad Martin ’16 to move to third base and driving home Sam Canales ’15. Cole DiRoberto ’15 then nailed a two-out RBI single. Trinity struck back with a run in the fifth and threatened a ninth-inning comeback, but Henry Van Zant ’15 closed out the victory.
Pitcher Erik Jacobsen ’15 tossed seven impressive innings, scattering six hits and striking out a pair for his second win of the year.
Saturday’s doubleheader started with a 6-0 shutout of the Bantams. Bowdoin starter Harry Ridge ’16 threw a strong six innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. Van Zant followed with a perfect inning of his own, striking out the side.
An error in the top of the second by the Bantam’s shortstop allowed shortstop Aaron Rosen ’15 to score. Three innings later, Bowdoin scored a few to finish the fifth inning with a 4-0 lead.
The Polar Bears found their last three runs in the top of the seventh. Rosen doubled with the bases loaded, plating Mullaney and Jacobsen, before a DiRoberto hit scored another run. This game ended with a 6-0 score, giving Bowdoin a 2-0 lead in the series.
Bowdoin’s good fortune ran out in the third game. Unlike the first two games of the series, Trinity scored first in the bottom of the fourth. The Bantams plated three more in the sixth inning, giving Trinity a 4-0. Bowdoin didn’t get on the scoreboard until the top of the eighth. Chris Cameron ’15 came off the bench with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch and scoring on a Mullaney single.
“Cameron sparked our rally,” Rosen said, “One of the bigger highlights in the series, for sure.”
With one out left, back-to-back hits by Rosen and Martin brought the score to within one, but Bowdoin’s comeback was thwarted when the game was called due to rain.
“Coach [Mike Connolly] stressed that when you get ahead of a team, especially conference teams, you can’t think about previous games already won,” Mullaney said.
This weekend the Polar Bears face off against Bates, at Bowdoin on Friday at noon. They then head to Lewiston on Saturday to play a double header. The first game starts at 2:30 p.m. and the second at 4 p.m.
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Women’s lax .500 after rough start in 'CAC
The women’s lacrosse team faced some of its toughest league competition over Spring Break. The Polar Bears faced off against three teams that are ranked in the top 20 in the NCAA Division III rankings—No. 15 Williams, No. 20 Hamilton and No. 3 Middlebury. They started their season on the road at Williams where they lost a close game, 12-8. It was Williams’ first win against Bowdoin since 2010.
After Williams scored the first goal just three minutes into the game, the Polar Bears quickly responded with a goal from Jordan Smith ’14 and a pair of goals by Lindsay Picard ’16, all in the first ten minutes of the game. This success, however, was fleeting, as Williams answered the Polar Bears’ success with a 5-1 run during the last 16:03 of the period—leaving Bowdoin down 6-4 at halftime.
“Our domination in the first 10 minutes got a lot of fire going in the beginning of the game,” said captain Betsy Sachs ’14. “But it may have given us too much confidence—making us overestimate the control we had in the game. We shouldn’t have given up a lead like that.”
In the second half, Rebecca McGovern scored a quick pair of goals to put Williams up 8-5. The Bears, however, refused to back down. Bowdoin saw goals from seniors Smith and Sachs within five minutes of each other, trimming Williams’ lead to one goal. But four more Williams’ goals against a single Bowdoin goal, left Bowdoin with a disappointing and uncharacteristic loss to the Ephs.
The team battled its next tough NESCAC competitor, Hamilton, on its home turf, where Hamilton did not stand much of a chance. The Polar Bears enjoyed a convincing 13-9 win over the Continentals, their first NESCAC win of the season. The first 10 minutes of the game saw Bowdoin score five unanswered goals. Sachs had three goals, while Smith and Megan O’Connor ’16 had one apiece.
“This lead gave us a lot of confidence,” Smith said. “We could tell that Hamilton was starting to doubt themselves.”
The Bears capitalized on the Continentals lack of confidence and extended their lead to 8-2. The Continentals, however, came alive in the last five minutes of the first half, scoring two goals in five minutes. Bowdoin, however, left the first half on top with a spectacular goal from Olivia Raisner ’15, who scored off an assist from Smith with just one second left in the half.
The Bears did not lay down in the second half. The Continental’s came out strong with a 3-1 goal surge against Bowdoin. Hamilton’s second half saw the Bears’ lead trimmed to three goals [10-7]. With 23:25 remaining in the second half, the Bears knew the game was far from over.
“We were put on our heels a little bit, we realized didn’t have the game yet,” Sachs said, “We knew we needed to keep pressuring them. It was a reminder to the team that the game isn’t over yet.”
Consecutive goals from Picard and Dana White ’15, along with several late game saves from the Bears’ goalie Isabel Sippel ’15, lifted Bowdoin to victory.
The Polar Bears ended Spring Break with a game against Middlebury, a consistently tough competitor.
From the start of the game the two teams traded goals. With just 1:06 left in the first half, Sachs took advantage of a loose ball. With just 29 seconds left in the half Middlebury scored twice.
“These last two goals definitely took a little wind out of our sails going into half time,” Sachs said, “ We played them really close in the first half so it’s not like the game was out of reach at that point—but they gained a lot of momentum within that minute of play.”
The Panthers’ scoring surge continued into the second half. Three Middlebury players were able to rattle off nine unanswered goals. It wasn’t until the last three minutes of the second half that Bowdoin’s Picard and Sachs found the Panther’s half of the field with two unassisted goals. The Bears’ push, however, came to late as the whistle was blown thirty seconds after Sachs’ goal, leaving Bowdoin with a disappointing 14-6 loss.
The team will play at Trinity tomorrow at noon.
“If we play the way we know how to play and bring the same amount of energy and level of intensity into each game and practice, success will come,” Smith said.
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Midd to host men’s hockey for ’CAC quarters
The men’s hockey team (14-8-2) (9-8-1 NESCAC) took to the road last weekend for their final two regular season games, beating Connecticut College 5-1 and falling to Tufts 4-3. The Polar Bears finish fifth in the NESCAC and will play in a NESCAC quarterfinal matchup at Middlebury at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
Their seeding this year is the team’s lowest since the 2010-2011 season, when the Polar Bears won the NESCAC tournament but vacated the trophy in the aftermath of a hazing incident.
The team had no trouble decimating Connecticut College (9-13-2) (8-9-1 NESCAC) last Friday. Colin Downey ’14 scored a quick goal at 7:25 into regulation—his 19th of the season. Although the Camels’ Zach Shapiro buried a wrist shot from the left point at the 13:27 mark, Bowdoin responded with a goal from Kendall Culbertson ’17 just two minutes later, ending the first period 2-1 in the Bears’ advantage.
The quiet of the second was broken with 1:26 left. The power play yielded a shot on goal by Bowdoin’s Zach Kokosa ’17, which was then rebounded by Culbertson, who stuffed the puck into the net, giving the Bears a 3-1 lead. It was junior John McGinnis’ breakaway with just 10 seconds left in the second period that gave Bowdoin an insurance goal, heading into the third with a commanding 4-1 lead. Joseph Lace ’17 rounded out scoring for the Bears with 12 seconds left in the game.
The team’s momentum continued into the start of the Tufts game. Mitch Barrington ’17 put one on the board just 35 seconds into the game by receiving a feed in the slot from Downey, where he then wristed the puck to the right side. However, Tufts responded quickly with a tap-in score by Kyle Gallegos, leaving the first period in a 1-1 tie.
During the second period Bowdoin capitalized on a pair of complementary penalties when Barrington fired a pass cross-ice, which Kyle Lockwood ’14 received and shot to score the Bears’ second goal with a slapshot at the 12:30 mark. The Jumbos equalized again with Patrick Lackey’s goal just a minute later. McGinnis then snaked through the Tufts’ defense and wristed a shot from the left circle to the opposite corner at the 10:40 mark. But Tufts answered yet again just two minutes later with a score off a rebound. The see-saw action ended with Tufts’ only lead of the game when the Jumbos’ Matt Pugh found Stewart Bell in the neutral zone, where he launched a shot that found the five hole.
“We got off to a lead in both games,” said Head Coach Terry Meagher. “The old sports cliché: Take it moment by moment and stay in the moment. The third period at Tufts we felt a little bit of pressure with it tied.”
Tomorrow’s quarterfinal against Middlebury will mark the start of Bowdoin’s defense of the NESCAC title.
“We really want to defend our title—we have had a hard time this year establishing our identity, our swagger,” said McGinnis. “We have been pretty inconsistent. As long as we have all 24 guys every game and play the full 60 minutes, we can definitely successfully [defend it].”
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Women’s hockey splits series at Hamilton
Despite having its doubleheader pushed back a day due to the snowstorm last weekend, the Bowdoin women’s ice hockey team still made a seven-hour trek to Hamilton College, breezing to a 3-1 victory over the Continentals Saturday night before falling 4-1 on Sunday.
The Polar Bears came out strong on Saturday when Maddie Baird ’15 put Bowdoin on the scoreboard with the team’s first shot on goal. It was Baird’s first goal of the season.
“This was definitely a confidence booster,” Jessica Bowen ’17 said. “We immediately thought that this goalie was letting things go and we just wanted to put anything we could on net.”
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Williams takes two from women’s hockey
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.
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Women’s hockey salvages tie on Saturday
The women’s hockey team faced off against Middlebury—the team it beat in last year’s NESCAC finals—this past weekend. Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself. The Bears left the Panthers’ home turf with a loss on Friday and a tie on Saturday.
On Friday, the Bears dominated offensively for most of the first period. However, the second period was a different story. In less than two minutes, Middlebury was able score three quick backdoor goals.
“I think the first game we were pretty nervous knowing how good Middlebury is,” said captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15. “We came out strong during the first period in the first game, but it was during the second period when we kind of let down and let them take control.”
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Athlete of the Season: Katie Riley '14
Katie Riley ’14 finishes her career with 46 goals and 35 assists, placing her fifth and fourth all time in each category, respectively. With 127 points, Riley ranks just behind Lindsay McNamara ’09. This season alone Riley tallied 59 points, making her the third highest single season scorer in Bowdoin history.
The capstone of Riley’s career was this year’s national championship. But the road to the championship was a bumpy one. Bowdoin had disappointing losses to Tufts and Middlebury. Neither Riley nor the team, however, lost hope after those losses. Their perseverance paid off just three days later with a win against Trinity, which included Riley making history with four goals, tying the record for most goals scored in a NESCAC tournament game. From there, the Polar Bears went on to beat Tufts the following week, with Riley contributing one of Bowdoin’s four goals.
“I thought it was really cool that we could bounce back as a team, [especially] with the close loss during the NESCAC game,” Riley said.
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D-III Regionals have mixed results for cross country teams
For the men’s and women’s cross-country teams, hopes ran high at the University of Southern Maine this past weekend. Both teams competed in the NCAA Regional Championships, where a strong finish could have improved their respective rankings and ensure each team a bid for the National Championships. Though the teams fell a bit short of expectations—the men were just one place shy of finishing in a position to earn a bid to Nationals—Head Coach Peter Slovenski said that the Polar Bears have much to be proud of.
WomenThe women’s team—originally seeded 14th in the New England regional polls—finished the competition in 11th place.“Four of the women’s team runners ran personal best times. They took advantage of the big race atmosphere and used the crowd to help them run their best,” said Slovenski. Runners who achieved personal records included Lucy Skinner ’16, who finished ninth with a time of (21:35.23), which shattered her previous best time by a full 60 seconds, and Brenna Fischer ’15, who beat her previous best by 20 seconds, turning in a time of 23:42.02. First years Gillian Kramer and Caroline Corban also ran personal best races, finishing with times of 23:42.02 and 23:30.12, respectively.Skinner started off at 40th place in the first mile, but moved up to 23rd by the end of the second. She shot up to fourth place in mile three to end in ninth overall.“Our coach does a good job at making sure we peak at the right time,” said Skinner. “Also, my teammates were really supportive and a lot of people were cheering. It just all came together”“Lucy showed the best composure,” Slovenski added. “She stayed relaxed and accelerated throughout the race. It’s hard to pass other runners in high level races, but she passed 14 all-star runners in the final two miles.”Senior captain Madelena Rizzo was another standout; her time of 22:14:04 was the second fastest posted by a Polar Bear and earned her 32nd place in the meet. Rizzo and Skinner both earned places on the All-New England team and Skinner’s personal best was enough to qualify her for the NCAA National Championship in Indiana.“Our coach does a good job at making sure we peak at the right time. Also my teammates were really supportive and a lot of people were cheering. It just all came together”Coach Slovenski said another contributor to Skinner’s success was the ease with which she approached the race.“Lucy showed the best composure. She stayed relaxed and accelerated throughout the race,” Slovenski said. “It’s hard to pass other runners in high level races, but she passed 14 all-star runners in the final two miles.”
MenThe men’s team was seeded fifth but ended the day in seventh place.“Some other teams did a better job of peaking,” Slovenski said. “We ran pretty well, but we didn’t have a great peak at the regional as we usually do”Captain Sam Seekins ’14 agreed with Slovenski.“We were hoping to be at least top five to qualify for nationals…Enough guys on the team had an off day to where we ended up being edged off by Colby and Bates, both of whom we had beaten earlier in the season, but they unfortunately beat us in the most important race,” he said.Despite the team-wide disappointment, the men still enjoyed some successes at the meet. For example, captain Coby Horowitz ’14, Nick Saba ’14 and Seekins all achieved all-New England team honors.Horowitz, the team’s top runner, finished fourth in the 8K with a time of 24:42:18. He ran most of the race in eighth position at the rear of the front pack. He moved up to sixth with a mile to go and passed two more runners to finish in fourth place.Other Bowdoin runners found themselves in the top 60. Seekins placed 28th, turning in a time of 25:21:81; Saba was 34th (25:30:81), and Kevin Hoose ’15 placed 55th (26:00:15) with Greg Talpey ’14 close behind at 56th (26:00:44).Horowitz will join Skinner at the NCAA Championship at Hanover College in Indiana tomorrow.
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Cross country teams compete at NESCAC Championships
This past Saturday at Harkness State Park in Connecticut, the men’s and women’s cross country teams faced tough competition at the 2013 NESCAC Championship. The flatness and quickness of the course, which runs around the grounds of the Harkness mansion, affected both teams.
MenThe men placed fourth despite competing against six of the top ten nationally-ranked teams.
“It was a fast course that we thought would play to our advantage, but it kind of didn’t work out that way,” said captain Coby Horowitz ‘14.Throughout the better part of the race, Bowdoin runners kept pace with their competitors from Middlebury, Bates and Tufts. At the third mile, Bowdoin runners started to fall behind.
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Volleyball suffers first loss in over a month to Wellesley
The volleyball team went 2-1 at the Hall of Fame Invitational last weekend. Hosted by Mount Holyoke, the Invitational allows New England teams the opportunity to compete in out-of-conference match play.
“What [this tournament] does is force top teams that don’t usually play each other to come into head-to-head competition to see who truly is the stronger team,” said Head Coach Karen Corey.
Bowdoin played matches against Bridgewater State, Wellesley College and Wheaton College, all New England squads that do not compete in the NESCAC.
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Field hockey tops Conn. College, sits at second in NESCAC, national standings
Over the past three years, the field hockey team has made a habit of finding its way to the very top of the D-III rankings.
Head Coach Nicky Pearson still doesn’t take any game lightly—especially in the intensely competitive NESCAC.
Despite having not given up a goal to Connecticut College in the past two seasons, the team refused to look past the Camels.