GORHAM, Maine - Bowdoin's Austin Downing notched his second career hat trick to lead the Polar Bear men's soccer team to its fourth-straight victory, 6-0, over the University of Southern Maine on Monday afternoon.

The Polar Bears (6-3) have not allowed a goal over their last 419:46 dating back to the Middlebury game on September 20. Southern Maine drops its second consecutive match and falls to  2-9-2 this season.

Despite controlling the play and owning a 9-1 advantage in shots, Bowdoin found itself deadlocked in a 0-0 draw with the Huskies until late in the first half.  With just 16 seconds until halftime, Polar Bear senior Thomas Henshall ran onto a deflected ball in the box and touched the ball to the far post to give his team a 1-0 advantage heading into the intermission.

Ten minutes into the second half, Downing took over for the Polar Bears sealing the victory with three goals in a five-minute span.  Downing's first goal of the game and first goal of the season came in the 56th minute off of an assist from Andrew Jones.  Two minutes later, Downing made it 3-0 in favor of the Polar Bears this time converting a feed from Henshall in the 58th minute. Downing completed the hat trick in the 60th minute flicking the ball into the net after settling a pass from Wilson MacMillan.

With a 4-0 lead in hand, Bowdoin tacked on two more goals for the 6-0 final.  First-year Ben Ginzberg and sophomore Patrick Kearon each tallied their first collegiate goal in the 70th and 85th minutes respectively.

Bowdoin's Stevie Van Siclen earned the win without being forced to make a save over the first 77:37.  Van Siclen gave way to senior Ian McNamara, who closed out the final 12:23 without facing a shot.  Southern Maine sophomore Elijah Leverett made eight saves in the loss. Downing also notched a hat trick against Maine-Farmington last fall.

Bowdoin travels Hamilton on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) for its next contest.