AMHERST, Mass. — After 110 minutes of scoreless action, two outstanding saves by Stevie Van Siclen allowed the sixth-seeded Bowdoin College men’s soccer team to secure a 5-4 victory in the penalty kick shootout over Amherst and win the 2014 NESCAC title on Sunday afternoon at Hitchcock Field.

Bowdoin (9-6-3), which hadn’t appeared in the conference tournament title game since 2010, won its first NESCAC crown after advancing on its second straight PK decision. The Polar Bears defeated Middlebury College, 3-2 in PKs following a scoreless draw in the semifinals before winning the championship in similar fashion.

The victory ended Amherst’s (13-1-4) run of three straight NESCAC titles.

Bowdoin earned the NESCAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and will make its first appearance since 2010. Selections for the tournament will be held later today.

Austin Downing scored on the first attempt for Bowdoin in penalty kicks and Van Siclen made a save on Amherst’s first try to give Bowdoin a 1-0 lead. Bowdoin’s Matt Dias Costa and Amherst’s Nico Pascual- Leone each converted to set the score at 2-1 in favor of the Polar Bears, before Jeffs’ keeper Thomas Bull turned away Eric Goitia, and Amherst senior Gabriel Wirz scored to tie the shootout at 2-2.

Sam Ward and Kiefer Solarte each made their next shots for Bowdoin, and Bubba Van Wie and Milton Rico each converted for Amherst, leveling the score at 4-4. Thomas Henshall found the back of the net to give the Polar Bears a 5-4 lead before Van Siclen smothered the ensuing shot by Amherst’s Mikey Hoeksema to clinch the title.

Bowdoin advanced to the NESCAC title game with a semifinal penalty kick win over Middlebury on Saturday.

The sixth-seeded Polar Bears continued their run through the postseason by playing the Panthers to a scoreless draw in regulation and overtime. Van Siclen saved three shots in the bestof five penalty round, while Solarte, Goitia and Connor Keefe scored goals to put the Polar Bears into the final.

Field hockey

Catherine Fowler scored the game-winning goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to give Middlebury its third consecutive NESCAC Championship, 2-1, over Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon at Ryan Field.

The Panthers (17-1) receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after avenging a regu- lar season loss to Bowdoin on Sept. 20.

The Polar Bears (16-2), the defending Division III National Champions, received an at-large bid to the tournament. Bowdoin received a first-round bye and will host the winner of Wednesday’s first-round contest between Mount Holyoke and Husson on Saturday. Skidmore will also come to Brunswick and play on Saturday against the winner of the Utica-FDU Fordham first-round contest.

On Sunday, Bowdoin got on the board first as Meredith Tibbals centered a pass from the right wing to Rachel Kennedy, who redirected the ball into the back of the cage for a 1-0 Polar Bear lead at 9:10.

Middlebury answered with some offensive pressure of its own and scored off its first corner. After an initial shot by Fowler was stopped on the goal line by Bowdoin’s Colleen Finnerty, Hollis Perticone pounced on the rebound to even the score 3:36 before halftime.

The teams traded good chances to open the second period as Middlebury successfully defended a Bowdoin corner and looked to break out in transition. A hard shot from the wing by Bridget Instrum was kicked aside by Bowdoin goaltender Hannah Gartner, keeping the game deadlocked. The Polar Bears fended off two more Panther corners, as Gartner made another diving stop on Fowler. Bowdoin almost found the game-winner with nine minutes remaining, but Emily Knapp made a charging stop on a run by Kennedy to preserve the 1-1 tie.

Middlebury was able to earn a penalty corner in the closing moments, and milked the clock to under one minute to play. Following the insertion by Alyssa DiMaio, Fowler rifled a low, hard shot that skipped through traffic and into the goal with just 26 seconds remaining.

Knapp was forced to make just one save in net for the Panthers, while Gartner made four stops for Bowdoin. The Panthers held a 7-5 advantage in shots as most of the game was contested in the midfield.

On Saturday, Bowdoin rallied from a one-goal halftime deficit to defeat Tufts, 2-1, in the semifinals.

Tufts (12-5) grabbed the early lead on Saturday, taking advantage of the first penalty corner of the game. A give-andgo by the Jumbos bounced around and came to the stick of Dakota Sikes-Kelip, who knocked home the ball on the doorstep to give Tufts a 1-0 advantage just 2:50 into the contest.

Tufts had a great chance to add to its lead 10 minutes into the match, but a shot from the left side by Sikes-Kelip, that appeared destined for the back of the net, was swept aside by Finnerty, preserving the one-goal deficit.

Bowdoin had a chance to even the score moments later, but Tufts goaltender Bri Keenan saved a penalty stroke by Kennedy to keep it 1-0 Jumbos at halftime. It marked just the second time all season that Bowdoin had trailed at the break.

It didn’t take long for the Polar Bears to knot the score after intermission, as Bowdoin earned another penalty stroke as a Tufts defender committed a foul on the line. Finnerty buried the stroke just 1:39 into the second frame.

Bowdoin continued to pressure the Jumbos, and found the go-ahead marker 13 minutes later as Mettler Growney slipped the ball towards to Tufts goal from the left wing. The ball skipped through traffic and found the lower-right corner to give the hosts a 2-1 advantage with 20:19 to go.

Kennan kept her team in it with several strong saves in the second period, including another Bowdoin penalty stroke opportunity with 4:25 remaining. Keenan played valiantly in the loss for Tufts, making 13 saves in all.

Gartner faced just two shots on goal and made one save in the win for Bowdoin