BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College men's lacrosse team
scored twice in the final 19.9 seconds to force overtime and Ben
Chadwick scored the game-winner to lift the Polar Bears to an
improbable 12-11 overtime victory in the NESCAC Quarterfinals on
Sunday at Pickard Field. The Polar Bears (9-6) advance to the
NESCAC Semifinals at Tufts University next Saturday where they will
play sixth-seeded Middlebury.
Colby appeared to have the game in hand with under a minute to
play after 59 minutes of tightly-played lacrosse. The squads had
been tied at the end of each quarter (2-2, 5-5, 8-8) before a late
three-goal run by Colby had brought them back from a one-goal
deficit with under five minutes to go. Whit McCarthy capped the
surge with a man-up goal to give Colby an 11-9 lead with just 41
seconds remaining in regulation.
But Bowdoin's Brendan Hughes won the ensuing face-off and the
Polar Bears got the ball to Kit Smith, who unleashed a laser from
10 yards out that dented the twine with 19.9 seconds remaining. A
scramble on the next face-off resulted in Bowdoin getting the ball
back and calling a time out with 11 seconds to play. The ball came
to Russ Halliday, who drove down the left side and ripped a shot
from a tough angle that tucked into the bottom corner of the cage
with just 5.8 seconds left to force overtime.
Colby won the face-off in overtime and was able to roll off three
shots- two off-target and the last of which was stopped by
Bowdoin's Christopher Williamson. The Polar Bears rushed downfield,
where Smith drew the defense at the top of the circle and fed
Chadwick to his left. Chadwick rifled a low shot that skipped
through traffic and past Colby's Tom Gianakos for the
game-winner.
Smith finished with game-high four goals and an assist. Chadwick
had two goals and three assists while Adam Tracy chipped in a pair
of scores for the Polar Bears. McCarthy led Colby with three goals
and two helpers, while Mark Squicciarino had three goals as well
for the visitors.
Gianakos stopped nine shots in the loss for Colby while Williamson
collected 11 saves in net for the Polar Bears.
Saturday will be Bowdoin's third-straight trip to the NESCAC
Semifinals and a rematch of their April 10 contest against
Middlebury, won by the Polar Bears 11-6.
Photos courtesy of
Brian Beard and Creative Images Photography.
Watch Final 40 seconds of regulation and
overtime
