The Bowdoin College men’s lacrosse team will return to the New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinals for the first time since 2012 following a 10-8 victory over Wesleyan in the opening round of the conference tournament on Saturday at Pickard Field.
The Polar Bears, seeded third in the tourney, improved to 12-4 on the season and will face No. 4 Middlebury in the semifinals this upcoming Saturday at Tufts. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Polar Bears used another 4-1 surge to open the second period, expanding the lead to 8-4 thanks to two Brett Kujala markers.
But, Wesleyan again replied with two scores with under three minutes remaining, as Niall Devaney and Stanton cut the Bowdoin lead to 8-6 at halftime.
The game settled into a defensive struggle in the second half as both teams’ offenses were unable to find their stride.
Christian Barker scored twice in the third quarter for Wesleyan, sandwiched around an Alex Osgood goal for Bowdoin, to make the contest 9-8 Bowdoin heading into the final period.
Wesleyan had several chances to tie the contest, but Bowdoin’s Peter Mumford and the Polar Bear defense were up to the task as Wesleyan went scoreless in the final quarter despite nine shots. Mumford saved four shots in the fourth quarter and Bowdoin got some insurance with under three minutes remaining when Daniel Buckman found Kujala in front of the goal for a two-goal cushion, 10-8, with 2:56 to go.
Softball
The Bowdoin College softball team held off a late push by visiting Trinity to open the New England Small College Athletic Conference series with a 5-3 win on Friday evening.
Bowdoin jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Caroline Rice tallied an RBI single to center that drove in Claire McCarthy, who stood in scoring position after tagging a double.
Rice drove in the Polar Bears’ second run with another RBI single to center in the third. Julia Geaumont gave Bowdoin a 3-0 lead with a single to right-center field that scored Ali Miller. Natalie Edwards sent a ball to left, allowing Rice to score, and Geaumont later scored on a passed ball to give the Polar Bears a 5-0 lead.
Trinity got a pair of runs back in the following inning. Capitalizing on an error with one out, Michelle Treglia tallied the Bantams first run. Courtney Erickson crossed the plate for run No. 2 off an RBI groundout by Nicole Towner.
The Bantams scored their final run in the top of the sixth as Towner chopped a shot to shortstop and Mandi Paine scored.
Geaumont pitched a complete game for Bowdoin and allowed no earned runs. The senior gave up three hits and tallied five strikeouts without a walk.
On Saturday, Marisa O’Toole stroked a walk-off home run as the Polar Bears (21-15-2, 6-6 NESCAC) captured game two of the Saturday doubleheader with Trinity, 4-2.
In the opener, the Bantams came away with a 3-2 victory, giving Trinity second place in NESCAC East. Bowdoin was eliminated from the postseason.
Baseball
Bowdoin handed visiting Tufts its first loss in NESCAC play with a 5-2 win in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader on Pickard Field.
The Jumbos rolled to a 16- 0 victory in the Saturday opener and left Brunswick with a mark of 25-6 overall, 10-1 in the NESCAC. Bowdoin is 20-12, 4-8 in NESCAC play.
Tufts scored 13 runs in the final three innings to pull away for a opening game win.
But in the nightcap, Michael Staes pitched seven strong innings for the Polar Bears for the victory.
The Polar Bears scored twice in the first inning as a double-steal allowed Brandon Lopez and Joe Gentile to come home on ground outs later in the inning.
Bowdoin crossed three more runs over the plate in the third as Chris Nadeau delivered an RBI single, Sean Mullaney delivered a sacrifice fly and Colby Joncas rapped an RBI single as well to push the lead to 5-0.
On Friday, Tim Superko tossed eight solid innings with 13 strikeouts as the Jumbos held on for a 4-3 NESCAC win in the opener.
Superko allowed six hits and two walks, and the two runs he earned were earned. Tufts closer Ian Kinney allowed a Polar Bears in the ninth but was able to escape for the win.
Harry Ridge went 5 2/3 for Bowdoin on seven hits, three earned runs and five strikeouts. Eight players had a hit for Bowdoin.
The Polar Bears will host Southern Maine in a non-conference game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Women’s tennis
Bowdoin suffered its third NESCAC defeat of the season in a 7-2 final at Tufts on Saturday morning.
The sixth-ranked Polar Bears (12-5, 5-3 NESCAC) were upset by 17th-ranked Tufts (11-5, 5-3 NESCAC) just a week after earning a program first win over second-ranked Williams.
The Jumbos swept doubles play and carried a 3-0 lead into singles.
Bowdoin suffered straight-set losses at one through three, while Tess Trinka fell at four after forcing a third set.
Kyra Silitch and Samantha Stalder tallied Bowdoin two points of the day with two-set victories at numbers five and six. Silitch finished with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at five while Stalder went 6-3, 6-1 at six.
Bowdoin will learn the seeding for the upcoming NESCAC Championship early this week. The conference tournament begins on Friday at Bates College in Lewiston.
Men’s tennis
Bowdoin completed a perfect home campaign with a 9-0 win over Colby in their final regular season match at Pickard Courts on Saturday.
The Polar Bears, ranked fourth in the latest Division III poll, improved to 14-1 (5-0 at home) this spring.
Bowdoin had to battle for a 3-0 lead in doubles play. Luke Trinka/Luke Tercek recorded a dominant 8-0 win at No. 1, but Chase Savage/Gil Roddy had to rally from a 4-1 deficit for a 9-7 win and Grant Urken/Luke Carstens needed a late push to earn a 9-7 victory at No. 3.
In singles play, Bowdoin lost just one set in six matches to clinch the victory. Kyle Wolfe (6-1, 6-1) and Carstens (6-1, 6-2) posted the most impressive wins in the sweep.
Track
Bowdoin posted several first-place finishes en route to a solid showing at the NESCAC Championships on Saturday at Amherst College.
The Polar Bear men placed fifth overall, while the women took a sixth-place finish.
Pamela Zabala recorded a personal-best en route to winning the conference crown in the discus. Zabala posted a distance of 136-05. Brian Greenberg won the triple jump, leaping a distance of 47-07.25, winning his first NESCAC title by a half-foot.
Bowdoin swept the 4 x 800-meter relay races, picking up two impressive wins. The women’s 4 x 800 relay team of Allyson Fulton, Meghan Bellerose, Demi Feder and Sarah Kelley posted a school-record time of 9:11.94. Kelley ran a 2:15 split in the anchor leg as the Polar Bears cruised to the win by 100 meters.
Themen’s 4 x 800 relay squad of John Kennealy, Conor Donahue, James Sullivan and Jacob Ellis took first in a time of 7:41.74. Ellis recorded a 1:52 split in the anchor leg, taking Bowdoin from third to first and claiming the victory.
Other top finishes included Addison Carvajal (2nd in the high jump, 5-04.25) and Katharine Krupp (3rd in the triple jump, 37-08.75).
Bowdoin will compete at the New England Division III Championships this upcoming weekend at Springfield College.
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