BOX
SCORE
BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's lacrosse team never
trailed in an 11-7 victory over eighth-ranked Tufts on Friday
evening. The Polar Bears (9-5, 6-3 NESCAC) grab the second seed for
the upcoming NESCAC Tournament while the Jumbos (11-3, 6-3) net the
third seed.
Bowdoin will host seventh-seeded Trinity on Sunday in a
quarterfinal game at 1:00 p.m. while Tufts will host sixth-seeded
Colby at 3:00 p.m.
The Polar Bears were in control from the outset on Friday, jumping
to an early 3-0 lead thanks to a pair of Matt Legg goals and
another from Steve Thomas. D.J. Hessler got Tufts on the board with
4:16 remaining in the quarter to trim the advantage to 3-1 after
one period of play. Bowdoin pushed their lead to 6-2 with 4:01 left
in the second quarter when Rob Halliday found Owen Smith, who
ripped a shot from the top of the circle. Tom Bragg scored a late
goal for Tufts to close the gap to 6-3 at intermission.
Bowdoin put the game away with a dominating third quarter,
as Harry Ashforth's second goal of the day keyed a 3-0 spurt to
start the second half and give the hosts a 9-3 lead. Matt Witko
stopped the Polar Bear run with a score at 1:03, but Eric Thompson
regained the momentum for Bowdoin, taking a Cullen Winkler feed and
depositing a goal with just 1.6 seconds remaining in the period.
Mark Flibotte pushed the lead to 11-4 early in the fourth before
Tufts closed the game with the final three scores.
Jake McCampbell stopped 13 shots in net for the Polar Bears while
Matt Harrigan made 18 saves for the Jumbos. Hessler and Witko had
two goals apiece to lead Tufts while Ashforth led all scorers with
two goals and three assists for Bowdoin. Legg and Thomas each had
two goals as well for the Polar Bears, who held Tufts to 1-7 in
extra-man opportunites for the night.
Photos courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images
Photography.
