BOX
SCORE
BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's lacrosse team got 18
saves from goaltender Robert Burkhardt and held off a late Amherst
rally to claim a key 10-9 NESCAC victory over Amherst on Saturday
afternoon. The 13th-ranked Polar Bears improve to 4-1 this year
(3-0 NESCAC) while the Jeffs drop to 3-2 (1-2).
Momentum swung equally in the opening half, as both teams enjoyed
scoring spurts. A pair of Thomas McDonnell goals opened up a 3-1
first-quarter lead for Amherst before Harry Ashforth and Cullen
Winkler scored late goals to even the score at 3-3 following one
period of play. Amherst scored the first three goals of the second
quarter, with Brett Miller scoring an extra-man tally and assisting
on another score, to give the visitors a 6-3 advantage. But Bowdoin
replied with the final three goals of the stanza, from Kit Smith,
Rob Halliday and Ashforth, to deadlock the contest heading into the
second half.
The Polar Bears extended their run to open the third quarter, as
Ashforth and Russ Halliday gave Bowdoin their first lead of the
game at 8-6. McDonnell trimmed the lead to 8-7 with 1:41 remaining
in the third, but Bowdoin's Mark Flibotte scored a pair of key
goals midway through the fourth quarter, extending Bowdoin's lead
to 10-7. John-Thomas Milone and Evan Redwood scored within a minute
of each other with under five minutes to play for Amherst, but the
Jeffs could not find the equalizer. Tim Thornton had a look from 15
yards as time expired, but his desperation shot sailed wide at the
horn.
Burkhardt was outstanding in net, especially in the opening
quarter, as he stopped 10 shots to keep Amherst at bay. Matt
Pietroforte stopped 11 shots between the pipes for Amherst, who
held a slim 37-36 advantage in shots. McDonnell led all scorers
with four goals for Amherst, while Redwood tallied two goals and
two assists. Bowdoin was led by a hat trick from Ashforth with Kit
Smith registering two goals and two assists. Bowdoin took a slight
12-11 win in faceoffs on the afternoon and netted a 32-25 edge in
groundballs.
