Bowdoin College field hockey player Claudia Kriz makes a pass during Wednesday’s home contest against the University of Maine-Farmington. Kriz had two goals in the Polar Bears’ 7-1 victory. (Brian Beard / CiPhotograpy.com)
BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College received goals from five different scorers on its way to a 7-1 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington in field hockey play at Ryan Field on Wednesday evening.
The Polar Bears improved to 8-1 with a pair of goals from Emma Stevens and Claudia Kriz, while Elizabeth Growney, Jamie Margiotta and Abby Bashaw each tallied a goal in the win.
“It was a good game for us today,” Bowdoin coach Nicky Pearson said. “We were able to work a lot of players in and work on our game skills.”
Bowdoin used precise passing on its home turf in the fast-paced start. A little over four minutes into the contest, a Stevens shot bounced off UMF keeper Grace DiMarco into the air and Bashaw batted it in for the game’s first score.
Following a Growney goal, Stevens found the back of the cage twice a little over two minutes apart to push the lead to 4-0. Stevens was the beneficiary of a pair of solid passes, with assists from Kara Finnerty and Elizabeth Bennewitz.
“Passing is our main focus in practice,” Stevens said. “Two-touch hockey, we see our best results when we do that.”
The Bowdoin coach echoed those comments.
“We have been working on each element of our corners and being able to execute that, having some variety so we’re not predictable,” said Pearson.
Stevens’ two goals pushed her team-leading total to 14 through nine games.
“She’s having a terrific season. She reads the play well and makes good contact with the ball,” said Pearson. “I’m really happy for her, she’s having a great season.”
“It’s been good, we’ve had a lot of good connections,” Stevens said. “We all work together to set each other up, as it’s a big team effort.”
Bowdoin College midfielder Johna Cook, center, carries the ball while University of Maine-Farmington’s Torrie Nightingale. far left, and Gracie Foss (19) look on. The Polar Bears cruised to a 7-1 victory on Wednesday on Ryan Field in Brunswick. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com)
The Polar Bears closed out the half with a Margiotta goal off a Manveer Sandhu helper. Then Margiotta set up Kriz for the sixth goal of the game.
Bowdoin outshot the Beavers 24-1 in the opening half, while holding a 5-1 advantage in penalty corners. DiMarco made 17 of her 18 saves in the opening half and her Polar Bear counterpart Eva Verzani turned away the one shot she faced in the first 35 minutes.
Playing on turf was something new for UMF this season.
“This is the first time we’ve played on the carpet turf all year. Our home field is one of the few grass fields still around,” UMF coach Cyndi Pratt said. “It’s a little bit tougher for us to adjust, but we know it coming in that it’s going to be this way. So we practice on indoor surfaces to prepare us.”
Kriz tallied a goal around the 20-minute mark, off a pass from Laura Cooper for Bowdoin’s seventh goal.
The Polar Bears nearly received their eighth score with eight minutes left when Cooper broke away from the pack and faced DiMarco with a one-on-one opportunity. But Cooper was denied when DiMarco stepped out and met Cooper in front to knock the ball away.
“I think our goalkeeper had a good second half, especially on that one-on-one attempt. I think this game will help her confidence with those nice saves she had,” Pratt said.
The Beavers (1-7) put a goal on the scoreboard with six minutes remaining. Taking the ball of a penalty corner from Torrie Nightingale, former Leavitt High School player Emma Martineau lofted a shot that went up and over Bowdoin keeper Maddie Ferrucci.
“We’ve been trying that almost every game and it was nice to finally put one in the back of the net,” Martineau said. “I have been shooting it over the net, so I told myself ‘a little less’ and it was nice to get it in.”
Despite the 7-1 final, Pratt knows her team will learn.
“We can compete, they just need to believe in themselves. We’re still trying to find things to build their confidence,” said Pratt. “This will be the best team we play all year, so we just need to remember we can play up to their level and not settle. Hopefully this will be a starting point for us to jump-start our season.”
Martineau agreed.
“We played 1-1 in the second half, and I think we can take that and hopefully push ourselves as we have a big weekend coming up,” said the senior.
UMF travels to Elms College (3 p.m.) on Saturday and Colby-Sawyer at noon on Sunday.
Bowdoin hosts Trinity on Saturday at 11 a.m., before traveling north to Waterville to take on Colby on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Bowdoin’s Maggie Ford, right, puts her shoulder down to drive toward the net during a field hockey game on Ryan Field in Brunswick on Wednesday. The Polar Bears cruised to a 7-1 victory over the University of Maine-Farmington to improve to 8-1. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com)
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