Athletics

BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's rugby team completed their first perfect NERFU season since 1995 with a 22-5 win over Maine-Orono on Saturday. The Polar Bears complete their conference slate with a 5-0 mark and earn the league's top seed for the postseason tournament. They will host Williams in a first-round match next Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

After an early drive by Maine-Orono deep into Polar Bear territory was unconverted, Bowdoin jumped out to a 12-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Loryn Fridie tallied the first try of the game before Maria Koenigs' chased down her own chip-kick in the endzone for the game's second try. A conversion by Rebecca Stevens gave Bowdoin their 12-point cushion at the break.

A series of nice exchanges led to a Nylea Bivins try that increased Bowdoin's lead. Orono replied with a score midway through the period, but Bowdoin sealed the win thanks to another well-placed kick by Koenigs that was touched by Danielle Willey to close out the scoring.

Despite being at a size disadvantage, Bowdoin's pack and several backs rucked very well to maintain possession of the ball. Forwards filled in the backline nicely when needed resulting in a cohesive team style of game. Carolyn Levin had an excellent game of fielding kicks and counterattacking from deep. Both she and Maria Koenigs made several well-placed kicks and saving tackles.

Image courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images Photography.