LEWISTON — The Bowdoin College women’s lacrosse team put on a defensive clinic in a 14-2 road win at Bates on Wednesday night.

The 14th-ranked Polar Bears held the 21st-ranked Bobcats scoreless for the first 33:01 of the game en route to improving to 5-4 (3-3 NESCAC). Bates fell to 7-4 (3-3 NESCAC)

The Bowdoin defense caused 10 turnovers as the Polar Bears outshot Bates, 15-7, in the opening half to take a commanding 10-0 advantage at the break.

Bowdoin’s offense scored three times in the opening six minutes and continued to roll as Katie Miller scored three times in the first half, while Eliza Denious, Fiona Bundy and Natalie Rudin added two apiece.

Bowdoin had it in running time from there, pushing the lead to 11-0 on a Denious goal to open the second half before Bates got on the board with 26:59 to play.

The Polar Bears answered that goal with three of their own, pushing the lead to as many as 13 goals in the second half.

Elizabeth Growney sparked the Bowdoin offense with a career-high five assists on the night. Denious and iller had three goals each for the Polar Bears. Denious added three draw controls, while Allison Williams posted four caused turnovers.

Erin Morrissey made six saves in the victory as Bowdoin owned a 28-15 advantage in shots for the contest and 5-of-9 from free-position range.

Bowdoin will return to action on Sunday against Plymouth State at Ryan Field at 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Plymouth, but was relocated to Brunswick due to field playability.

Men’s lacrosse

Bates closed the game on a 4-1 run to come from behind and defeat Bowdoin, 14-12, at Whittier Field.

The Bobcats improved to 8-2 (5-1 NESCAC), while the Polar Bears dropped to 5-5 (2-4 NESCAC).

Bates jumped to an early lead, taking advantage of transition opportunities to hold a 5-1 lead after just 6:26 of play.

The Bobcats led 6-2 after the first quarter before Bowdoin stormed back with three goals to cut the lead to 6-5 following a Zach Chandler score midway through the frame.

Bates pushed the lead back to three goals thanks to scores from Rocco Fantoni and Matt Chlastawa and carried a 9-7 lead into intermission.

Bowdoin outscored Bates 2-1 in the third quarter, closing to within a single goal following a Donal Mullanescore tally entering the fourth frame. Bowdoin scored the first two goals of the final period, taking its first lead since 1-0 on a Jake Crossman goal with 13:02 remaining, 11-10.   

Bates took command from there, rolling off a three-goal surge to regain the lead for good. Curtis Knapton gave the Bobcats a 12-11 lead with 9:45 to go and Matt Kelleher put home a key insurance tally at 7:51.

Bowdoin drew closer on a Brad Ingersoll goal with 4:04 remaining and had several late opportunities to tie the score, but a pair of late turnovers doomed the Polar Bears as Chlastawa put home an empty-netter with 14 ticks remaining to put the game on ice.

Bowdoin owned a 51-34 advantage in shots, but Bates goaltender Rob Strain stopped 16 shots to help lead his team to the road victory.

Chlastawa keyed the Bates attack, scoring four goals and three assists.

Crossman had three goals and an assist for Bowdoin, while goaltender Michael Covell made nine saves.

Bowdoin returns to action on Saturday when the Polar Bears face Southern Virginia at Boston University at 4 p.m.

Baseball

The University of Southern Maine rode a five-run first inning to a tight 6-4 win over Bowdoin on Wednesday afternoon.

The Polar Bears fell to 0-14-1, while the Huskies climbed to 13-3.

Bowdoin plated a run in the top of the first. Gavin Cann doubled to right field to drive in Eric Mah.

Southern Maine exploded for five of its six runs in the bottom of the first. Dylan Hapworth put the Huskies on the board with a sacrifice fly to right. Devin Warren followed up with a two-run triple to right center. The Huskies scored two more runs, one off a groundout, and another off Anthony Degifico’s RBI single through the right side. 

Brendan O’Neil jacked a solo home run to right in the fourth, cutting the score to 5-2.

USM pushed another run across the plate in the fifth on a fielder’s choice.

Bowdoin continued to climb back into the game with two more runs in the sixth. Chris Attisani tagged an RBI double to right center and Colby Joncas drove in Cann with a groundout to second.

Bowdoin outhit the Huskies by an 11-9 margin. Mah paced the Polar Bears by going 3-for-4. Hapworth went 2-for-3 for the Huskies. Nick Merrill, Cann, Attisani and Connor Lee all had doubles.

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