BRUNSWICK — Stephanie Ludy scored the game-winning goal with 21 seconds left in overtime to lift the Bowdoin College women’s ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over Williams in the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament Saturday at Sidney J. Watson Arena.
The victory propels Bowdoin (12-9-4) to the NESCAC semifinals next weekend at Middlebury College against No. 2 Amherst, while the Ephs finished 11-14-0.
Kayte Holtz finished with two goals and an assist for Bowdoin, including a helper on the game-winning score. Goaltender Kayla Lessard was outstanding in net for the Polar Bears, stopping 38 shots, including 25 in the third period and overtime.
Sam Weinstein and Andree Heller accounted for Williams’ goals with Chloe Billadeau stopping 33 shots for the Ephs.
A loose puck in the neutral zone resulted in the game’s first goal as Cristina Bravi and Weinstein played giveand go on a breakaway, with Weinstein depositing it through the pads of Lessard at 7:56.
Bowdoin tied the game on the power play late in the period when Kim Tess-Wanat found Holtz on the back post with 37 seconds remaining.
The Polar Bears wasted little time grabbing the lead in the second period, as Chelsea MacNeil collected the puck on the boards and slipped a pass through to Holtz in the slot, who rammed it home just 10 ticks into the frame.
Williams came out well in the third period and tested Lessard with several good chances in the opening five minutes of the frame. The Ephs broke through on the power play with 12:40 remaining as Heller redirected an Ally Ensor shot from the point to deadlock the game at two apiece.
The teams skated dead-even for the remainder of the period and Billadeau sent the game to overtime with a pad save off the stick of Holtz with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
Lessard answered the bell early in overtime for Bowdoin, making a stop off a shot in front by Aimee Dennett. The junior goaltender made 14 saves in the extra session to keep the Polar Bears alive.
With the time ticking away and the game seemingly destined for a second overtime, Holtz controlled the puck in neutral ice and made a push into the Williams zone along the boards. The puck rattled to the left corner, where Mac- Neil fed the puck in front to Ludy, who got a piece of the centering feed. The puck popped into air and sailed over the shoulder of Billadeau into the net for the game-winning score.
The Polar Bears went 1-for- 4 on the power play, while the Ephs went 1-of-3.
Women’s basketball
The Polar Bears jumped out to an 11-0 lead, but Tufts battled back for a 55-40 victory in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Amherst, Mass.
Bowdoin, which dropped to 19- 7, will await a possible NCAA Tournament berth. Tournament selections will be announced today.
Amy Hackett scored five during Bowdoin big run to open the game. Tufts missed its first 10 shots and didn’t score until Liz Moynihan dropped in two points with 14:50 remaining in the first half. The Polar Bears led 15-4 on a jumper by Alexa Barry before Tufts got back into the game.
The Jumbos scored the next 11 points, including 3-pointers by Kelsey Morehead and Kate Barnosky, to take a 16-15 lead with 6: 35 remaining until halftime.
Bowdoin called a timeout and got back into rhythm, with Hackett hitting two free throws and then a trey, followed by a Kaitlin Donahoe jumper that capped a 7- 0 Polar Bear run for a 22- 16 lead.
Bowdoin led 23- 20 at the break.
Bowdoin senior Jill Henrikson hita3toputBowdoinup 26-22 one minute into the second half, but Tufts turned the game around over the next 10 minutes. It started when five different players scored during a 12-3 Jumbos run for a 34- 29 lead.
Leading 37-30, Tufts put the game away with a 9-2 run for a 46-32 edge with 8:09 remaining.
Moynihan led Tufts with 14 points, hitting five of seven shots and adding five rebounds. Barnosky finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Kornegay filled the stat sheet with four points, 12 rebounds (five offensive), seven steals and six assists, while Morehead added nine points and two steals.
Hackett led Bowdoin with 12 points, with Henrikson scoring 10 points, pulling down six rebounds and picking up two steals. Donahoe recorded seven points with three assists.
Nordic skiing
The Bowdoin men’s and women’s squads were at Stowe, Vt., for the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association Championships, hosted by Middlebury College over the weekend.
The Polar Bears posted some of their finest finishes of the season in taking 10th out of 13 teams at the championship to round out their 2012 season.
Spencer Eusden led the way for Bowdoin with a pair of top finishes in the men’s races. He finished 11th in Saturday’s 20K Classical race (1:20:46.9), just a minute off the winning pace, after taking 18th in Friday’s 10K Freestyle competition (26:20.9).
Kevin Hoose also enjoyed an excellent weekend, taking 27th in the 10K free (26:58.5) while placing 35th in the 20K (1:23:35.6).
Freshman Kaitlynn Miller paced the women’s squad and put a nice cap on a strong rookie campaign with a 27thplace finish in the 15K Classical (1:09:33.1) and a 36th-place showing in the 5K free (15:51.7).
Indoor track
Bowdoin competed at the Open New England Championships hosted by Boston University this weekend.
The Polar Bears posted several strong results against a field that featured several Division I squads.
Elsa Millett had a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash (55.82) while Olivia MacKenzie earned a third-place showing in the 5,000 (17:40.88).
Annie Huyler recorded a seventh place showing in the pentathlon (3,219 points), while Anna Ackerman took eighth in the 3,000 (10:12.93).
On the men’s side, Brett Stein took ninth in the 500 (1:05.73), while Matthew Hillard placed 10th in the mile (4:09.26).
Coby Horowitz posted a school-record time in the preliminaries of the 1,000 at a pace of 2:28.30.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
