BRUNSWICK — The Amherst College football team scored twice in a span of 47 seconds in the third quarter to pull away from Bowdoin for a 30-7 victory Saturday at Whittier Field.

The Jeffs improved to 2-0, while the Polar Bears dropped to 0-2.

Alex Berluti went 11-for-15 for 187 yards passing, including a 97-yard touchdown strike to Jackson McGonagle, the longest passing play in Amherst school history. Raheem Jackson had 59 yards rushing for the Jeffs, who had eight different players combine for 163 yards on the ground.

Bowdoin’s Tim Drakely went 13-of-24 for 96 yards passing, while Mac Caputi went 14-of-21 for 102 yards through the air. Tyler Grant rushed 25 times for 86 yards in the loss.

The Jeffs dominated the first quarter of play, but mustered only a single touchdown as McGonagle took an end-around run 14 yards, capping an eight-play, 56-yard drive to give the visitors a 6-0 lead following a missed PAT.

Phillip Nwosu booted a 29- yard field goal in the second quarter to give Amherst a 9- 0 advantage.

The Polar Bears had a great chance to cut into the Amherst lead before halftime as Bowdoin recovered a fumble at the A-44 with just 2:02 remaining. Drakely steered the Polar Bears down to the A-1 but, with less than 10 seconds left in the half, fumbled short of the goal line. Amherst recovered and maintained its 9-0 advantage into the break.

Again Bowdoin had a solid chance to get on the scoreboard early in the third period as an Andrew Murowchick punt was downed at the A-1 by Ethan Drigotas. The Polar Bears appeared to have stuffed Amherst tailback Kenny Adinkra in the end zone on the first play of scrimmage, but the Jeffs were narrowly able to avoid the safety. Two plays later, Berluti found McGonagle behind the Bowdoin secondary and the junior wideout traveled 97 yards to paydirt to give Amherst a 16-0 lead.

On Bowdoin’s ensuing possession, Caputi was intercepted by Jaymie Spears at the B-18. Gene Garay took an end-around carry 18 yards on the very next play to give the visitors a commanding 23-0 lead with 9:26 to go in the third quarter.

Amherst added another score before the end of the third quarter as Berluti found Nick Kelly for a 26- yard touchdown pass to make it 30-0.

Bowdoin was able to get on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, going 79 yards in 11 plays, with the key play coming on a 28-yard pass from Caputi to Drew Prescott. Caputi plunged the final yard for the score with 45 seconds remaining to make it a 30-7 final.

Bowdoin totaled more first downs (22-18) and time of possession (32:40-27:20) than Amherst, but surrendered three turnovers and were sacked three times. The Jeffs totaled 390 yards of offense to 316 for the Polar Bears.

Bowdoin will host Tufts this upcoming Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Women’s soccer

In a battle of streaking teams, host Brandeis defeated the top-ranked (New England) Polar Bears, 1-0, on Saturday.

The Judges won their eighth in a row to improve to 8-1, while the Polar Bears, ranked 11th in Division III by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, fell to 6-1.

The first half was evenly matched, with much of the action coming in the middle third of the field. Brandeis outshot Bowdoin, 4-3, but the Polar Bears had the two best opportunities, putting their final two shots on goal. Bowdoin rookie Bridgit Bergin had a direct shot from 25- yards out in the 44th minute. Then, just 20 seconds before the half expired, Brandeis senior Michelle Savuto stoned Bergin again off a corner kick.

Brandeis came out in the second half and maintained better possession of the ball, eventually outshooting the visitors, 9-2. The Judges had the first three shots of the second, but Bowdoin goalie Bridget McCarthy made the only save needed of her in that stretch on a straight-forward attempt in the 47th minute.

Bowdoin’s best chance came in the 71st minute. After earning a deep throwin, the ball worked free to Alexa Yurick just inside the six-yard box. She sent the ball across the goal-mouth, but Brandeis keeper Alexis made a diving save to punch the ball wide of the far post. The Judges fended off the ensuing corner kick to keep Bowdoin at bay.

Brandeis finally solved McCarthy in the 79th minute. After a corner kick from the right side of the field was cleared out by the Bowdoin defense, Emma Eddy found herself open at the right sideline. She sent the ball into the mix, and it went all the way through the box and hit the left post. McCarthy gave chase, but the ball bounced back to Brandeis senior Sapir Edalati, who finished into an empty net.

Bowdoin had one more attempt off the kick-off after Edalati’s goal, but Grossman denied Abby Hammerl.

Bowdoin will look to get back in the win column at the University of Southern Maine on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Volleyball

Bowdoin split a pair of matches played at Keene State University on Saturday.

The Polar Bears defeated Eastern Connecticut State, 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-14) in a neutral-site match before bowing to the home team, Keene State, 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-20).

Bowdoin stands at 11-3 overall this season.

The Polar Bears wasted little time in dispatching the Warriors, cruising in the first set and controlling the match throughout. Michelle Albright notched a teamhigh nine kills to go with eight digs. Clare Geyer had eight kills, as did Christy Jewett. Katie Doherty collected 19 digs, while Quincy Leech added 23 assists in the win.

The Polar Bears lost a hard-fought first set against the Hawks and failed to recover. Jewett led all players with 12 kills, while Erika Sklaver had eight. Doherty posted 13 digs to go with Leech’s 16 assists in the setback.

Bowdoin began the weekend began the weekend with its 18th consecutive win over rival Colby on Friday.

The Polar Bears won the games 25-20, 25-12, 25-15, and improved 2-1 in the NESCAC.

Sklaver led the way for Bowdoin with eight kills and five blocks. Jewett added five kills, three aces and seven digs, while Leech dished out 18 assists for the Polar Bears.

Bowdoin will look to bounce back on Friday at home against Trinity College at 8 p.m.

Cross country

Both the Polar Bear men and women took runner-up finishes at their second home invitational of the fall on Saturday.

Bates College won both events. The Bobcat men claimed first place with 22 team points to defeat Bowdoin’s 36 among eight competing teams. The Bates women posted 29 team points to beat Bowdoin’s 57 in a seven-team meet.

Bowdoin’s Lucy Skinner and Avery Wentworth both took individual second-place showings in their respective competitions. Skinner traveled the 6K course in 23:33.81, just 10 seconds off the winning pace of Husson’s Chrissy Larrabee. The Bowdoin women also got strong showings from Brenna Fischer in 10th place (24:10.05) and Gillian Kramer in 16th (24:56.56).

Wentworth completed the 8K men’s race in 26:26.60, trailing John Stansel of Bates by 22 seconds for the win. Bowdoin also got top-10 performances from Kevin Hoose (fifth, 26:43.08), Bridger Tomlin (sixth, 26:44.15) and Calvin Henry (10th, 27:03.76).

The Polar Bears will return to racing on Oct. 11 when they travel to Franklin Park in Boston for the Open New England Championship.

Women’s tennis

Bowdoin’s Emma Chow and Teresa Trinka reached the finals of the doubles bracket at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association New England Regional Championship hosted by Williams College over the weekend.

Seeded second heading into the tournament, Chow and Trinka went 4-1, defeating pairings from MIT, Williams, Wesleyan and Amherst en route to the final. They lost a hardfought 8-4 decision in the title match to Williams’ Curran/ Pylypiv.

It is the top showing by a Bowdoin doubles pairing at the ITA New England regional championship.

Women’s rugby

The Polar Bears posted another shutout in improving to 3-0 following a victory over the University of Maine- Orono on Saturday. Bowdoin claimed a 70-0 victory and will return to action this upcoming Sunday at Bates at 11 a.m.

Bowdoin used balanced scoring from a mix of forwards and backs. Pamela Zabala opened the scoring with a short drive off a ruck at the 10-meter line, with former Mt. Ararat student/athlete Randi London converting.

Senior wing Charlotte Kleiman continued her impressive play this season, scoring a 50-meter try. London again slotted the conversion kick to give the Polar Bears a 14-0 edge. Support from the back row forwards of London, Anna Piotti and Paige Pfannenstiel kept the ball alive for the attacking backs and produced four more tries in the first half. Anna Piotti, Hayleigh Kein, Samantha Hoegle and center Addison Carvajal each added a try, with London adding two more conversions to give the hosts a 38-0 lead at the break.

The second half opened with more of the same for Bowdoin as the Black Bears struggled to get anything going against the strong Polar Bear defense. Scrumhalf Emily King controlled the base of the rucks and distributed the ball to runners as Bowdoin continued to roll. Sam Hoegle challenged the Maine defense with several well-placed kicks, including one that was chased down by Pfannenstiel, who caught the kick on a high bounce and outpaced the defense for 30 meters and the try.

Other scorers in the second half included King, London, Carvajal and two tries by winger Georgia Bolduc. London notched one more conversion kick in the second half for a total of 15 points.

The Bowdoin B-team defeated UMO, 17-10, with two tries from Le’Shauna Phinazee and another from Maddie Lemal-Brown.

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