BRUNSWICK — In a meeting between the top two teams in the NESCAC, Bowdoin defeated Wesleyan, 3-1, on Friday evening to earn the top seed for the upcoming conference championship.

The Polar Bears survived the tight match, which featured 19 lead changes and 44 ties. Wesleyan (15-4, 8-1) lost its first conference game of the season.

The Polar Bears prevailed by set scores of 30-28, 25-22, 20-25, 27-25.

In the 40-minute first set, neither team pulled away until late, when Wesleyan used a quick 3-1 surge to take a 24-21 advantage and serve for set point. Bowdoin rebounded with a 3-0 run to tie the score, and the teams traded points, until a 3-0 run by the Polar Bears, capped by a service ace from Lisa Sheldon, gave the Polar Bears the 30-28 win. In all, Bowdoin fended off eight set points to take the dramatic 1-0 lead.

The teams continued their back-and-forth play in the second set and found themselves knotted at 21-21. Bowdoin rolled off a 4-1 run to close the set, clinching it on a Sophia Pahl ace to take a 2-0 advantage.

Wesleyan cut into Bowdoin’s lead with a late run in the third set after Bowdoin closed the gap to 21-20. The Cardinals used a 4-0 run to win the set, sealing it on a kill from Harper Graves to make it 2-1.

The Cardinals seemed poised to force a tie-breaking fifth set as they twice served for the set, holding leads of 24-23 and 25-24, only to see Bowdoin rally again. A kill by Sophia Pahl and an attack error by the Cardinals gave Bowdoin a 26-25 lead, and the Polar Bears won it in unconventional fashion as a Wesleyan attack was dug by Sheldon and sailed back over the net to the far corner of the Cardinal zone, landing safely for the match-clinching point.

Caroline Flaharty racked up a match-high 20 kills with 21 digs for Bowdoin, which also got double-digit kills from Ashley Williams, who posted 18. Kate Kiser had 54 assists and 14 digs and Sheldon recorded 29 digs and two service aces. Defensively, Sydney Salle had four solo blocks.

The Polar Bears closed out their regular season with a 3-0 win over Connecticut College on Saturday.

Bowdoin (24-1, 10-0 NESCAC) won by set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-20.

Bowdoin will host the 2018 NESCAC Championship beginning Friday. The Polar Bears will face Trinity in a quarterfinal match at 5 p.m. The semifinals will be on Saturday, with the championship match set for Sunday.

Football

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Wesleyan suffocated the Bowdoin offense en route to a 24-0 win on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals improved to 4-3, while the Polar Bears fell to 0-7.

After the teams traded possessions to open the game, Wesleyan mounted a 16-play, 74-yard drive, covering 8:24 to take a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Glenn Smith.

The Cardinals doubled their lead early in the second quarter as Mark Piccirillo found Joe Scancarella for a 23-yard scoring strike to make it 14-0 at halftime.

Wesleyan added a 25-yard field goal from Patrick Wolff and a 10-yard touchdown reception by Hallvard Lundev in the second half to seal the win.

In rainy and windy conditions, Piccirillo tossed for 158 yards and rushed for 70, while Smith accumulated 105 yards on the ground for the Cardinals.

Bowdoin mustered just 100 yards of offense.

Drew Ortiz had 14 tackles and a forced fumble for Bowdoin. Franny Rose had nine tackles and a fumble recovery. Cameron Rondeau had an interception for the Polar Bears.

Taj Gooden led the Wesleyan defense with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble.

Bowdoin will open CBB (Colby-Bates-Bowdon) this upcoming Saturday at Whittier Field against Bates, which is also winless (0-7) this season after falling to Colby, 21-6, in the first leg of the CBB Saturday.

It will be the first night game in the history of Whittier Field, scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff.

Cross country

BOSTON — The Bowdoin women raced to a seventh-place showing at the 2018 NESCAC Championship Saturday at Franklin Park.

Bowdoin recorded 164 team points to follow Colby (154) and out-pace Amherst (213) to take seventh in the 11-team field.

First-year Delaney Bullock had a fantastic race in her NESCAC Championship debut, taking 17th overall in 23:15.6 on the 6K course, the second-best showing by a first-year at the championship this season.

Julia O’Rourke followed closely in 19th place (23:16.6), with Sarah Hanson (23:32.2) coming in 27th place. Also scoring for Bowdoin were Martha Boben in 45th (24:01.5) and Claire Traum in 56th (24:22.8).

Bowdoin is off until Nov. 10 when it hosts the NCAA Division III New England regional at Pickard Fields.

In the men’s meet, Sean MacDonald placed fourth overall to lead the Polar Bears to a sixth-place finish.

The Polar Bears posted 156 team points to finish behind Connecticut College (148) and edge Tufts (158).

Five Bowdoin seniors led the pack for the squad, led by MacDonald’s fourth-place showing in 25:29.8, just two seconds off the winning pace. Connor Rockett took 31st (26:33.2), followed by Naphtali Moulton in 34th (26:40.8). Andrew McGowan in 42nd (26:48.8) and Alec Ferguson-Hull in 45th (26:53.0) rounded out the Bowdoin racers.

Men’s soccer

AMHERST, Mass. — Bowdoin lost a tightly-contested NESCAC quarterfinal to Amherst Sunday afternoon in a 1-0 final.

Ten minutes into the game, fifth-seeded Bowdoin nearly converted on a corner kick that set up Jack Shultz for a blast from 30-yards out. Bernie White denied the initial shot and subsequent rebound.

Dane Lind responded five minutes later with a point-blank volley that Chris Kingston blocked.

At 20:31, Amherst’s Andres Pascual-Leone scored the game’s lone goal. Bryce Jonhson found Pascual-Leone on the far left post with a throw-in. Pascaual-Leone volleyed his shot off Kingston and just barely over the goal line.

Ten minutes later, Kingston made a diving save on a shot that was heading for the top right corner.

Kingston made eight stops for the Polar Bears. White made five saves for Amherst. Amherst held a 19-8 shot advantage. Bowdoin took a 6-5 edge in corner kicks.

Field hockey

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Third-seeded Williams handed Bowdoin a 3-2 quarterfinal loss on Sunday afternoon.

The Polar Bears earned the No. 6 to the NESCAC tournament and ended the season at 11-5. The Ephs advanced to the semifinals with a 12-4 mark.

Abby Bashaw put the Polar Bears on the board just 1:56 into play, scoring on the first shot of the game for either team.

Williams responded midway through the half, evening the game at 1-1, with an unassisted mark from Libby Dolan.

The Ephs took their first lead of the game 15 minutes into the second half. On a penalty corner, Emma Ticknor inserted and later finished off a feed from Isabel Perry to take a 2-1 lead.

Bowdoin tied the game in the 66th minute as Elizabeth Growney scored off a pass from Emma Stevens.

Just 45 seconds later, the Ephs scored the game-winner off the stick of Dolan.

The Polar Bears held a 12-10 edge in shots. Williams earned seven penalty corners, while Bowdoin had three. Maddie Ferrucci made three stops. Abby Lloyd made a pair of saves for Williams, while Emma Santucci made four stops.

Women’s soccer

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Bowdoin saw the 2018 season draw to a close in a 1-0 NESCAC quarterfinal setback to second-seeded Middlebury on Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears ended the year at 7-7-2, making the conference playoffs as the No. 7 seed. Middlebury (14-1-1) earned the No. 2 seed for NESCAC playoffs and advances to next weekend’s semifinals.

Eliza Robinson scored the game’s lone goal in the first half on a corner kick. Robinson hooked a kick off Penny Rocchio that went into the net for the 1-0 advantage.

The Polar Bears pressed in the second half, with Julia Patterson directing a header on net that forced Middlebury keeper Eva Shaw to turn away. Sophia Lemmer lofted a shot over the crossbar early in the second.

Following a weather delay, Julia Adlemann put a corner kick into the box for Morgen Gallagher to head on net.

Shaw made 10 saves for the shutout. Rocchio made four stops for the Polar Bears. Bowdoin held a 19-10 edge in shots and 7-2 corner kick advantage.

 

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