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Volume CXXXIII, Number 3 |
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Players prayers answered in time: Last minute goal ties game, 3-3
SEAN WALKER
STAFF WRITER
The Bowdoin Men's Soccer Team proved itself worthy of its national ranking with relentless play in the face of adversity last Saturday against Williams College. An epic contest, the Bears ended the game in deadlock at 3-3. Bowdoin, ranked 5th in the latest poll, fell to the Ephs early when Brett Olsen scored ten minutes into the game, followed by Josh Bolton's goal just two minutes later.
Many teams would become deflated, knowing that comebacks against quality teams such as Williams are difficult at best. Bowdoin refused to panic, however, as its confidence remained high.
"We knew we were the better team, and it showed after the two goals," said Bobby Desilets '06, NESCAC player of the week. "We outplayed them and knew we could beat them despite our disappointment of giving up two soft goals at the beginning of the game."
The Polar Bears answered by controlling play for the rest of the half. They were able to cut the lead to 2-1 thanks to a brilliant lead pass from Andrew Russo '06 to Desilets, who drilled a right-footed blast into the upper left corner of the goal from the 18 with 22 minutes remaining in the half. The Polar Bears narrowly missed tying the game moments later when a rocket from the foot of Ethan Roth '04 narrowly missed the right post.
During the second half, the Polar Bears continued their dominance, despite the score remaining 2-1 in Williams' favor. With 15 minutes left in the game, John Hollis '07 headed in a free kick from Jacques Guana '05. This was an opportune time for the first year to score his first goal playing for the black and white.
The change in momentum was obvious, as the Polar Bears could smell blood and continued to go for the Eph's jugular. Bowdoin outshot Williams 33-14 by the end of the game. Williams did still have one advantage, however: Khari Stephenson. The senior from Jamaica was intent on giving Williams the win in regulation and making the beautiful Bowdoin ladies on the sidelines break into tears when he shot a laser inside the right post with just 2:36 left in the game.
After the goal, the fans looked deflated, especially several very young Polar Bear fans on the sideline. Their source of disappointment was not from a seemingly imminent loss but rather from learning that the Batman and Superman on the sidelines were actually Bowdoin students dressed in costume. One could only feel empathy for their parents who probably had to explain why Superman couldn't fly straight and Batman would get arrested if he jumped behind the wheel of the Batmobile. Kids apparently just don't understand that Natural Ice is the college student's kryptonite.
Luckily, the only toxin in the blood of the players was adrenaline, which allowed the Polar Bears, on the brink of exhaustion, to muster enough to tie the game on one of the most improbable goals imaginable.
Goalie Travis Derr '04 came up to take a free kick for Bowdoin, which was redirected by Roth's header and found it's way between the goalie's legs to Desilets' foot, which quickly deposited the ball into the back of the Williams net, tying the score at three and causing general pandemonium in the stands.
"The play that we scored on is almost like a hail Mary pass, you just kick the ball into the box and hope for the best. I happened to be in the right spot at the right time. You never expect to score with so little time left on the clock, but when you do it's amazing," said Desilets.
Even though Bowdoin had the advantage in shots by a 5-1 margin in the two overtime periods, neither team was able to get a golden goal. Derr finished with five saves for Bowdoin, while Williams' Nick Armington stopped 13 Bowdoin shots.
With one thrilling tie on the books and a 3-0-1 record to their credit,
the Polar Bears have a week of practice and rest to gear up for an even
bigger challenge of traveling this weekend to play perennial NESCAC contenders
Amherst and Middlebury.
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