BRUNSWICK

The Bates College football team scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to rally for its fifth consecutive Colby- Bates-Bowdoin Championship in a 24-7 win over Bowdoin on Saturday at Whittier Field.

The crown is the 13th overall for Bates (3-4) and ties the series record, matching Colby’s five straight titles from 1988-92.

Bowdoin (0-7) remained winless on the season and closes out its season at Colby this upcoming Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Waterville. .

Bowdoin grabbed a first-quarter lead and led through the first 45 minutes of the game. The Polar Bears got on the board with an 18-yard run by Nate Richam, who took a sweep to the left and sliced upfield for a 7-0 lead with 6:47 remaining in the opening period.

Bates was able to get on the scoreboard before the break, capping a lengthy 16- play, 65-yard drive with a 27- yard field goal by Grant DeWald to trim the lead to 7- 3 at intermission

The teams traded possessions in a scoreless third quarter. Bowdoin had several chances to add to its lead, but punted twice from the Bates 36 and had a field goal blocked from the Bates 22.

The Bobcats took advantage, marching into Bowdoin territory early in the fourth quarter. On the third play of the period, backup quarterback Matt Golden lofted a pass to the corner to Marcus Ross, whose defender slipped in coverage, for a 35-yard scoring strike to give the Bobcats their first lead with 14:10 to go.

Bowdoin was on the cusp of regaining the lead on its next possession, but a penalty negated a big pass play from Tim Drakeley to Bryan Porter. On the next play, a Polar Bear fumble recovered by Max Breschi gave Bates the ball at its own 42. Six plays later, Frank Williams took a feed from Golden and scampered around right end and down the sideline for a 36-yard TD run to make it 17- 7.

After a Drakeley interception on Bowdoin’s next drive, the Bobcats put the contest out of reach as Golden kept the ball on a draw play and cut through the Bowdoin defense for a 65- yard touchdown to cap the Bobcats’ rally that saw the visitors score 21 points in a span of 7:18.

Bates gained 415 yards of total offense, including 337 on the ground in the victory. Golden led the way with 126 yards on 14 carries while also going 3-for-3 for 30 yards passing. Peter Boyer had 83 yards rushing on 17 carries for the Bobcats.

Bowdoin gained a season-best 339 yards, including a 21-of-39 effort for 257 yards passing by Drakeley. Richam carried the ball 13 times for 75 yards for Bowdoin. Bryan Porter (five catches, 75 yards) and Liam Ford (six catches, 63 yards) led the Bowdoin receivers on the afternoon.

Trevor Lyons picked off two passes for Bates and made six tackles overall.

Joe Gowetski made 15 tackles for Bowdoin, while Austin Stern made nine, including two for a loss, recovered a fumble and had a pass breakup.

Men’s soccer

Amherst scored twice in the final 9:44 to stun Bowdoin in a 2-1 comeback victory in the New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

Seventh-seeded Bowdoin (9-4-4) lost a NESCAC Tournament contest for the first time since 2013, snapping its string of back-to-back conference championships.

In an evenly-matched opening 45 minutes featuring staunch defense, each side was only able to put one shot on frame. One of Amherst’s best offensive chances of the first half came with 9:57 on the clock. Bolting across the box in a bid to get a foot on Andrew Orozco’s header, Christopher Martin’s attempt went just wide left of the goal as he collided with a Bowdoin defender.

Noah Safian came up big for the Polar Bears with 33:56 on the clock in the second half. Safian jumped and reached behind himself to get his fingertips on a ball and recorded the save to preserve the deadlock.

Less than a minute later, Amherst goalie Lee Owen returned the favor, making a diving save to thwart Moctar Niang header attempt after a corner kick by Matt Dias Costa in the 57th minute.

Will Herman gave the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead with 15:49 remaining. Capitalizing on their second corner kick of the game, Herman one-touched a centering header by Dias Costa into the bottom right over of the goal.

Justin Aoyama launched a ball towards net from 40- yards out in the 80th minute. A Bowdoin defender’s attempted clearing header in the box ricocheted behind him and tucked just inside the right post to even the score.

Amherst notched what proved to be the game-winner two minutes later. Gathering a pass from Martin at the top left of the box, Weller Hlinomaz cut across the field and ripped a low, hard shot past Safian and into the bottom left corner of the net.

Owen recorded four saves for Amherst in the winning effort, while Safian made four saves in the loss.

Women’s volleyball

The Polar Bears advanced to the NESCAC semifinals for the sixth consecutive season with a 3-1 win over Williams in the conference quarterfinals played at Medford, Mass., on Friday evening.

Bowdoin’s run came to an end on Saturday, as top-seeded and host Tufts downed the Polar Bears, 3-1, in the semifinals.

Bowdoin finished the year with a 15-10 mark.

In the win over Williams, Bowdoin took a 2-0 lead and held off the Ephs by set scores of 25-19, 25-18, 26-28, 25-21.

First-year Caroline Flaharty led the way offensively for Bowdoin with 17 kills while also adding 15 digs. Erika Sklaver had a dozen kills and six blocks for the Polar Bears, while Sydney Salle pitched in nine kills and Michelle Albright added eight.

Defensively, Katie Doherty had a match-high 35 digs, while Albright had 19. Quincy Leech dished out 39 assists

Against Tufts, the Jumbos won a close match by set scores of 21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25- 21.

Leech led Bowdoin with 38 assists, 12 digs and four kills. Sklaver had 10 kills in the loss, while Flaharty recorded a team-high 11 with 16 digs. Salle also finished with 10 kills.

Comments are not available on this story.