Volume CXXXIII, Number 5 October 10, 2003 f

Field hockey stays rough and tough
HEATHER MACNEIL
STAFF WRITER

Bowdoin's field hockey is 13th in the nation 2003-10-10ly and second in the NESCAC behind Middlebury. The women will face NESCAC rival Connecticut College at home tomorrow. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient)

Bowdoin's Field Hockey team bounced back from tough games played against Amherst and Middlebury last weekend to add two more wins to their record this week.

The Polar Bears' first loss came last Saturday against Amherst College. Junior Marissa O'Neil kicked off the game with an early goal in the first half, but Amherst responded quickly and the regulation game ended in a tie. The game headed into overtime. With only two minutes left in the overtime play, Amherst scored the winning goal, despite the Bear's best efforts. Goalie Gillian McDonald '04 played phenomenally, with a whopping seven saves.

After battling Amherst, the Bears migrated up to Vermont to take on the Middlebury Panthers. The game got off to a slow start, and the entire first half remained scoreless. However, the Panthers picked up the slack after halftime and scored two quick goals to secure the win.

McDonald said of the heart-wrenching losses, "We played a lot better in our Middlebury game than in our Amherst game. The Middlebury game could have gone either way, but Middlebury just capitalized on their scoring chances when we did not. We are very focused for this upcoming weekend and are excited to get those 'W's back." McDonald's prophesy came true, and the Polar Bears secured two solid wins this week. As it stands, their record is 6-2.

This past week the Bears traveled down to Medford, MA to take on the Tufts Jumbos. Although Bowdoin beat Tufts in their last five consecutive meetings, it was a close game. The first half went scoreless, and the Bears out shot the Jumbos only 9-8. After the break, however, Bowdoin turned up the heat and leading scorer O'Neil scored off a penalty corner. Britney Carr '04 followed shortly after and scored through a jumble of players off a deflected shot. Two goals were enough for the victory, and Bowdoin came on top 2-1.

Tuesday's game against Southern Maine proved a little easier for Bowdoin, as the Huskies pled no contest to the Polar Bears when they arrived at Ryan Field. Bowdoin took off, scoring four consecutive goals before Southern Maine was able to retaliate. Taryn King '07, Colleen McDonald '05, Amanda Burrage '04, O'Neil, and Carr each netted a shot for the final score of 5-2.

Bowdoin improved its national ranking this week from 14 to 13 and is the second-highest ranked NESCAC team behind Middlebury. The Bears are looking to improve upon their status on Saturday of Parents Weekend when they play Connecticut College at 2:30 p.m. at home on Ryan Field.

since 11/01/02 FastCounter by bCentral