This marks the first Polar Bears win over Jeffs since 2005. The Polar Bears improved to 2-0-0 (2-0-0 New England Small College Athletic Conference while handing the 20th-ranked Jeffs their first loss of the season (2-1-0, 1-1-0 NESCAC).
Both teams enjoyed solid chances over the opening 45 minutes of play. Amanda Kinneston had a strong look for Bowdoin, launching a shot just outside the right post from the top of the box. Each team offered up six shots in the opening half of play, with Bowdoin’s Bridget McCarthy stopping four shots and Holly Burwick making three saves for Amherst.
The game remained scoreless through the opening 15 minutes of the second half until Bowdoin’s Kiersten Turner was tripped up and taken down in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Hofstetter lined up to take the kick and coolly put home the game’s only goal.
The Polar Bears appeared to tack on another goal with 20 minutes remaining as Turner served the ball up for Hofstetter in the midfield, who headed to Evan Fencik running down the left side. Fencik drew the Amherst keeper out and launched a shot towards the cage that richoted off the right post.
The Jeffs stepped up their offensive pressure in the final 10 minutes, with two shots from Megan Kim quickly followed by a ball deflecting off the post from Rachael Abernethy. Bowdoin controlled the final three minutes in the offensive end to secure the victory.
McCarthy made four saves in each half to earn the shutout for Bowdoin, with Burwick stopping four. The Polar Bears held a slight 13-12 overall edge in shots, while both teams earned four corner kicks.
Bowdoin returns to action on Wednesday at home against Bates at 4:30 p.m.
Men’s soccer
Greg Singer scored the game’s lone goal as 18th-ranked Amherst held off a late Bowdoin flurry to take a 1-0 victory at Pickard Field.
The Jeffs moved to 2-0-1 on the season (1-0-1 NESCAC), while the Polar Bears dipped to 1-2-0 (0-2-0 NESCAC).
Following a scoreless first period that saw Amherst hold a 5-2 lead in shots and the teams combined for 21 fouls, the Jeffs pulled ahead in the 62nd minute. Nico Pascual-Leone made a long throw to the top of the box that came to the foot of Singer, who blasted a shot that deflected off a Bowdoin defender and into the goal at 61:26.
The Polar Bears’ best bid to tie the score came in the closing minute. After a free kick was awarded at the edge of the Amherst box, Bowdoin’s Eric Goitia lined up a rocket that seemed destined for the top right corner of the net. But, netminder Thomas Bull made a diving stop, punching the ball wide of the net to preserve the victory.
Bull stopped three shots, while Bowdoin netminder Noah Safian also stopped three shots in the setback.
The Polar Bears will look to bounce back on Tuesday afternoon as they host Bates at 3:30 p.m.
Field hockey
Rachel Kennedy scored a pair of goals to lead Bowdoin to a 2-1 victory over visiting Amherst on Saturday afternoon.
The top-ranked Polar Bears collected their second win of the season to improve to 2-0 (2-0 NESCAC), while dropping the 12th-ranked Jeffs to 2-2 (1- 2 NESCAC). Bowdoin has now taken six of the last seven meetings between the two teams and avenged one of its three losses suffered en route to the national title in 2013.
Kennedy put Bowdoin on the board with 2:12 remaining in the first half, finally burying the Polar Bears’ eighth shot of the game. Receiving a feed just inside the 25, Kennedy broke through a pair of Amherst defenders to earn a one-on-one with Jeffs goalie Rachel Tannenbaum. The junior forward slipped a quick shot to the left corner to put Bowdoin on the board.
The Polar Bears held a 3-0 edge in corners for the first half, as well as an 8-3 shot advantage.
Bowdoin doubled its lead 36 seconds into the second half, with Kennedy muscling a shot through Tannenbaum from the doorstep. Adrienne O’Donnell earned an assist.
Amherst fought back, earning a penalty corner with five minutes remaining and forcing Bowdoin goalie Hannah Gartner to make a diving save to the left post. With Gartner out of the play, Amherst was awarded a penalty stroke following a foul in front of the goal line. Caroline Fiore capitalized on her opportunity with a low shot to the right corner, pulling Amherst within one, 2-1.
But, the Polar Bears held on through the remaining minutes of play, with Gartner making a pair of key saves to preserve Bowdoin’s lead.
Bowdoin outshot the Jeffs, 11-7, with both teams earning three penalty corners. Gartner stopped six shots for the Polar Bears, with Tannenbaum blocking three before Emily Horwitz came in to make one save of her own.
The Polar Bears host Bates on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Cross country
Polar Bear runnersd made strong debuts on Saturday in hosting their first Invitational of the fall.
The Polar Bear men finished first out of six teams, while the women were second of five squads.
Bowdoin will have two weeks off until its next competition, another home invitational on Sept. 27.
The Bowdoin men posted five of the top six finishers to earn the victory. Kevin Hoose started the string of top Polar Bear finishers with a runner-up finish of 25:51.92 in the 8K race. Avery Wentworth (25:58.18), Will Ossoff (25:59.79), Bridger Tomlin (26:02.33) and Sam Dodge (26:03.38) rounded out the strong finish.
Bowdoin posted 20 team points, easily defeating runner-up Tufts, which totaled 35.
Tufts defeated Bowdoin in the women’s 5K race as the Polar Bears accumulated 50 team points to trail the Jumbos, who posted the top seven finishers to score 15 points.
Lucy Skinner was the top Polar Bear in eighth place in 19:15.52, followed by Camille Wasinger in 12th (19:30.16). Brenna Fischer (24th, 19:54.64) and Caroline Corban (26th, 20:11.09) were the other top-30 finishers for Bowdoin.
Volleyball
On Friday, Bowdoin picked up a pair of 3-1 victories.
The Polar Bears downed Birmingham Southern, 25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17, before rallying to pull away from Transylvania, 20-25, 25-17, 25-9, 25-16.
Christy Jewett was outstanding against Birmingham Southern, recording 20 kills and just one error to go with 11 digs in the victory. Erika Sklaver recorded eight kills and five blocks, while Quincy Leech had 21 assists. Katie Doherty (14 digs) and Hailey Wahl (11 digs) also saw double-digits defensively for the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin shook off a shaky start to dominate Transylvania over the final three sets. A balanced Polar Bear attack was led again by Jewett, who put home 11 kills and 12 digs to go with five blocks. Wahl had nine kills and Doherty notched eight to supply the Bowdoin offense. Doherty owned a team-best 15 digs, while Leech and Clare McInerney dished out 15 assists each in the victory.
On Saturday, Bowdoin suffered its first loss to fall to 8-1, losing to fourthranked Emory, 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 25- 22).
The Polar Bears began Saturday with a hard-fought 3-2 win over No. 21 Wisconsin Whitewater, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 23- 25, 15-11. Jewett led Bowdoin with 17 kills, 17 digs and five blocks in the victory. Sklaver had 13 kills and nine blocks for the Polar Bears, while Michelle Albright added 11 with eight digs. Doherty had 13 digs, while Leech added 30 assists.
Against Emory, Bowdoin rallied after dropping the first two sets. Jewett and Sklaver notched a dozen kills apiece, while Jewett added 11 digs. McInerney led Bowdoin with 19 assists.
The Polar Bears will return home this upcoming Friday against Connecticut College at 8 p.m. before hosting NESCAC rival Tufts on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
