Brunswick — The Bowdoin College women’s soccer team punched its ticket to the NESCAC quarterfinals with a 1-0 upset victory over visiting Tufts on Tuesday afternoon.
The Polar Bears improved to 7-6-2 (3-6-1 NESCAC) after defeating the Jumbos (9-4-2, 5-3-2 NESCAC), who sit in fourth place in conference standings.
Bowdoin held a 5-2 shot advantage in the first half, but was unable to put the ball in the net. Julia Patterson nearly broke the game open in the 23rd minute with a sliding bid on a long cross. Emily Bowers came out and absorbed the close-range shot.
Eight minutes into the second half, Kate Rusk-Kosa fired a shot that sailed just above the crossbar from outside the box.
In the 63rd minute, Julia Adelmann scored the game-winner. A well played through-ball found Adelmann, who worked the end line and scored from tight. Behind the defense, Adelmann slotted the ball right as Bowers dove left.
Bowdoin held a 14-6 edge in shots, while the Jumbos earned a 9-4 corner-kick advantage. Bowers made four stops for Tufts. Penny Rocchio picked up the win with four saves.
Bowdoin is the No. 7 seed and will travel to second-seeded Middlebury at 12:30 p.m.
Men’s soccer
Tufts scored with 1:53 remaining in regulation and then buried the game-winner in overtime to clinch the top seed for the NESCAC Tournament in a wild 4-3 win over Bowdoin on Tuesday afternoon.
The Jumbos remained unbeaten at 13-0-2 (8-0-2) and will be the top seed for the NESCAC Championship that begins Saturday.
Bowdoin (9-4-2, 5-3-2 NESCAC) will be either the fourth or fifth seed, pending the result of today’s Amherst-Trinity game.
The game started in slick and cold weather that resulted in wide-open play for both sides. Joe Braun put the visitors on the board in the 15th minute as a free kick from Jack Delaney curved perfectly into the box, where Braun headed it into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Bowdoin replied before halftime, cashing in on a corner kick in the 42nd minute when Moctar Niang finished off a loose ball in front to make it 1-1 at the break.
The teams traded goals just 22 seconds apart early in the second half as Gavin Tasker gave Tufts the lead on a right-footed blast from the left wing at 59:28. Immediately following the ensuing kickoff, Bowdoin possessed the ball just past midfield and Drake Byrd lofted a long shot that skipped over the head of Tufts netminder Conner Mieth and into the top right corner to deadlock the game at 2-2.
Bowdoin took its first lead with 8:17 to play as Matty McColl crossed a ball into the box from the right side that skipped through traffic and into the net to give the Polar Bears a 3-2 edge.
The Polar Bears appeared poised to walk away with the win, but Tufts found the equalizer with just 1:53 remaining. Zach Lane beat a defender down the sideline and crossed to the waiting foot of Brett Rojas to force the extra session.
Tufts controlled the overtime session and sealed the win on a corner kick in the 97th minute. Travis Van Brewer’s corner kick slid through the box to the far post, where Sterling Weatherbie got a piece of it to redirect into the goal for the game-winner.
Tufts owned a 20-8 edge in shots, but Bowdoin goaltender Chris Kingston made eight saves, including several spectacular stops in the second half. Conner Mieth made three saves in the match for Tufts, which also held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Women’s hoops
Bowdoin will enter the 2018-19 campaign as the No. 2-ranked team in Division III, according to the preseason poll released by D3hoops.com on Monday.
The Polar Bears, who finished the 2017-18 season as the NCAA Division III runners-up, posted a 29-3 record last season and received a pair of first-place votes in the poll.
Defending national champion Amherst returns as the top-ranked team, while another NESCAC rival, Tufts, enters the season as the sixth-ranked team in the nation.
Bowdoin will open its season Nov. 16-17 at the Coastal Classic Tip-Off Tournament inside Morrell Gymnasium. The Polar Bears will play Regis on Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. and face Colby-Sawyer on Nov. 17 at 4 p.m.
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