BRUNSWICK — Through four games, the Bowdoin College women’s hockey team struggled to find the back of the net, having scored just three goals.

Heading into Friday night’s home contest with Endicott, the Polar Bears, coming off back-to-back shut-out losses in the Codfish Tournament in Boston, needed both to score and earn their first win.

Bowdoin took care of the first thing, tallying a pair of goals, but the visiting Gulls scored the final goal in overtime for a 3-2 victory at Sidney J. Watson Arena, leaving the Polar Bears with an 0-5 record.

It was a game, like the other four, where the Polar Bears dominated in shots (31-19), but were unable to find the winning goal in a scoreless third period.

“That has been the story of all five games, where we created a lot of opportunities that we couldn’t capitalize on,” said Bowdoin coach Marissa O’Neil. “They keep plugging away. We had the opportunity for offense, we are just not finding it crossing the goal line yet.”

After opening with a pair of losses to rival Colby (3-1, 3-2 in overtime), Bowdoin fell to Manhattanville and UMass-Boston in Boston. Having last scored in the second Colby contest, the Polar Bears came out strong, claiming a 1-0 lead when Tala Glass sent a shot off an Endicott defender and past Gulls goaltender Vendela Jonsson at 10:19 of the opening period. Izzi Stoddard assisted.

Endicott claimed the momentum out of the gate in the second period, scoring a 4-on-4 goal just 46 seconds in from Nicole Demers, assisted by Lauren Ferraiuolo and Jillian Gibbs.

Moments later, a Bowdoin penalty gave the Gulls a power play, and the visitors took advantage as a Ferraiuolo wristed a shot from the point past Polar Bear keeper Kerri St. Denis (16 saves) for a 2-1 lead.

From there, Bowdoin controlled the flow, firing nine straight shots on Jonsson and tying the game on a rising wrist shot from freshman Angelina Joyce off assists from Nell Fusco and Glass.

“They showed their resolve after giving up two goals in the first three minutes of the second period, then went on to pump one back in to tie it up,” O’Neil said. “There is no quit in these kids. They have a lot of fight. It is just about ending up with more points.”

Penalties

The whistles from the referees slowed the game to a crawl throughout the first two periods, with 11 infractions keeping the special team units busy.

“The officiating was pretty brutal tonight, and it shouldn’t factor in as much in the game,” said a frustrated O’Neil. “When we were 5-on-5, we had them on their heels. Their goals came 4-on-4 and 5-on-4. It took away the flow of the game with how well we were playing.”

Despite owning a 12-6 shot advantage in the second period, the Polar Bears went to their locker room still tied at 2.

Bowdoin again had moments of domination in the third period, owning a 9-5 edge in shots. Jonsson robbed Marissa Fichter twice from in close, and Fusco launched a low shot as the regulation time ticked away. At the other end, St. Denis quickly sprung her left pad out on a tip from Courtney Sullivan, sending the game into a five-minute overtime.

Endicott began the extra session strong, with St. Denis stopping Rachel Lustenring’s backhander from in tight, followed by a save on Michaela McNamara.

Jonsson came up big, turning aside a wrist shot from Joyce before flashing her right pad on a low shot by Miranda Bell.

The Gulls ended the contest at 3:06 of overtime. Gibbs, who had three assists, sent teammate Lexi Klein in on a breakaway. St. Denis was able to get her arm on the shot, but the puck slipped behind her and over the goal line for a 3-2 Endicott (4-2-2) victory.

Jonsson stopped 29 of the 31 shots she faced for the win.

After hosting Saint Anselm on Saturday (see the Bowdoin roundup on B5), the Polar Bears close the opening semester with home matchups with the University of Southern Maine (Tuesday, 7 p.m.) and the University of New England (Saturday, 4 p.m.).

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