BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College earned another trip to the NCAA Division III field hockey title semifinals Sunday afternoon, rallying for a 2-1 overtime victory against Skidmore.
Rachel Kennedy, the New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Year, scored her second goal of the game on a breakaway 11:13 into overtime as the Polar Bears moved a step closer to successfully defending their NCAA championship.
Additional Images
In a rematch of last year’s championship game, Bowdoin (18-2) will play Salisbury (Maryland), in the semifinals Saturday in Lexington, Virginia. NESCAC champion Middlebury faces The College of New Jersey in the other semifinal. The winners meet Sunday for the national championship.
The Polar Bears are seeking their fifth NCAA title in eight seasons. They’ll be making their eighth trip to the national semifinals since 2005.
Kennedy’s ninth game-winning goal of the season came when Bowdoin finally gained possession of the ball after defending six consecutive penalty corners.
Colleen Finnerty set up the goal by quickly advancing the ball after the sixth penalty corner.
“I saw the way that Skidmore plays their offensive corners (by putting) all of the players on the circle, which meant that the three players we had on the (50-yard line) we’re going to be wide open,” Finnerty said. “As soon as we got the ball coming out of the circle, I just wanted to get it as soon as possible up to our forwards.”
“We have such a great defensive unit and I just knew if there was going be an opportunity where they were going to block (the ball) out then we needed to go back and score right away,” Kennedy said. “I kind of took off in (open) space, knowing that she’d send the ball there.”
Kennedy sprinted with the ball for more than 50 yards before drawing out goalie Amy Beck and sliding a shot into the left side of the goal for her team-high 32nd goal of the season.
Despite holding a 26-6 edge in shots, the Polar Bears trailed for most of the game.
Skidmore (18-3) opened the scoring less than six minutes into the first half when Krista Lamoreaux turned the Thoroughbreds’ second penalty corner of the game into a goal. Melanie Webb sent a long pass along the left end line across the front of the goal, and Lamoreaux stepped in front of a defender and tipped the ball past goalie Hannah Gartner for her seventh goal of the season. It was only the 10th goal allowed this season by the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin held a 6-3 edge in shots during the first half but it was unable to get the ball past Beck, who was credited with 17 saves for the game.
Gartner, meanwhile, made a sprawling stop when Sofia San Marco tried to move in from the left side. She also stopped Webb’s blast from 10 yards out to keep Skidmore from adding to its lead.
Kennedy tied the score 22 minutes into the second half when she redirected Pam Herter’s centering pass from the left side into the goal. Herter, a senior forward, ran more than 50 yards down the left sidelines with the ball before making the pass.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.