The Polar Bears field hockey team, the New England Small College Athletic Conference runner-up and defending Division III National Champions, will be home on Saturday against the winner of Wednesday’s Mount Holyoke/Husson contest. Skidmore also advanced to the second round, and will travel to Bowdoin to take on the survivor of the Utica-FDU Fordham first round contest.
The NESCAC champion men’s soccer team, which upset Middlebury and Amherst in penalty kicks over the weekend, heads to Brandeis University on Saturday to face Brockport (10- 3-6) at 7:30 p.m. The Polar Bears are 9-6-3. Brandeis hosts Husson in the opening match on Saturday, with the winners meeting on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the second round.
The Bowdoin women received an at-large bid and will meet Roger Williams University (17-2-4) at 1:30 p.m. at the home of MIT. The Polar Bears stand at 12-4 after falling to Connecticut College in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday. MIT (14-4-2) is the host and will take on Colby-Sawyer (13-5-1) in the second game, with the winners meeting in the Division III second round on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The women’s rugby team cruised to a 51-5 win over Colorado College in the opening round of the American Collegiate Rugby Association/ USA Rugby Division II Tournament on Sunday at Pickard Field. The win sends the Polar Bears to Dartmouth College this upcoming weekend to face Rutgers in the second round.
And, the Bowdoin women’s volleyball team, after a stellar season, will head to Williams College to meet Regis on Friday at 3 p.m. The eight-team field will be chopped down to four after Friday. If the Polar Bears are successful, they will take on the winner of the MIT/Rivier contest on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The two survivors meet in the Regional final on Sunday at 4 p.m.
This past weekend, the Bowdoin women’s soccer squad, volleyball team and women’s rugby team were in action.
Women’s soccer
An early goal from Annie Higgins propelled Connecticut College to a 1-0 victory over Bowdoin in the NESCAC women’s soccer semifinal on Saturday.
The Camels (15-2-0, 8-2-0 NESCAC), who last appeared in the conference semifinals in 2004, advanced to their first-ever final.
Higgins scored off a breakaway in the seventh minute, taking a lead pass from Michelle Medina that split the last two Polar Bear defenders. She dribbled just inside the 18 before sliding a shot past Bridget McCarthy for her fourth goal of the season.
The tally capped off an early offensive flurry for the Camels and for Higgins, who recorded four shots — three on goal — within the game’s first 17 minutes.
Bowdoin had several chances to even the score, including a dangerous opportunity just minutes after the Camels took the lead that came courtesy of Amanda Kinneston. The senior midfielder sliced through the Camels defense before dishing a pass wide to Evan Fencik and quickly getting a return feed. Kinneston fired two shots in quick succession, but was stopped first by a Camel defender, then goalie Bryanna Montalvo.
Montalvo made four saves in all to earn her NESCACleading 11th shutout of the season for the Camels. McCarthy stopped seven shots for the Polar Bears, who were outshot 17-12.
Women’s volleyball
Top-seeded Tufts rallied in the fourth and fifth sets to come from behind and defeat No. 5 Bowdoin, 3-2 (17- 25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22, 15-12), in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
The Jumbos (21-7) avenged a regular-season loss to the Polar Bears.
In a tightly-contested match throughout, the decisive fifth set was tied at 11-11 before Tufts scored four of the final five points. A kill by senior tri-captain Hayley Hopper, two Bowdoin attack errors and a match-ending kill by sophomore Mary Maccabee gave Tufts the win.
Hopper led the Jumbos with a match-high 23 kills, making only six errors in 53 attempts to finish with a .321 percentage. Maccabee added eight kills as the Jumbos had six players with five or more. Junior setter Kyra Baum finished with 45 assists.
The Polar Bears were led offensively by 11 kills from sophomore Erika Sklaver, while junior Christy Jewett added 10. Jewett and firstyear Michelle Albright both served three aces for Bowdoin. Setters Quincy Leech (23) and Claire McInerney (12) helped Bowdoin compile 42 assists.
Bowdoin sophomore Katie Doherty posted the matchhigh in digs with 24. Junior Hailey Wahl was the top Polar Bear blocker with three solos.
Bowdoin opened the tournament with a quarterfinal win over No. 4 Middlebury on Friday.
Jewett put home a matchhigh 22 kills to lead the 3-1 win (25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23). Jewett also had 13 digs. Doherty racked up 25 digs for Bowdoin, who also got 16 digs from Albright. Sklaver had 13 kills, while Leech (27 assists) and McInerney (20 assists) split-setting duties for the Polar Bears.
Women’s rugby
The Polar Bears cruised to a 51-5 win over Colorado College on Sunday at Pickard Field.
Bowdoin jumped ahead and never looked back, scoring six first-half tries to quickly put the contest out of reach.
Sparked by Charlotte Kleiman’s downfield runs, Bowdoin got two tries apiece from Randi London, Pamela Zabala and Vianney Gomezgil Yaspik. Hayleigh Kein scored the final try of the period and London converted three kicks for a 36- point halftime lead.
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