MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - The Bowdoin College women's lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal halftime deficit to defeat Amherst, 11-9, in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Middlebury College.

The Polar Bears (14-4) advance to the NESCAC title game for the first time since 2015 where they will face top-seeded Middlebury on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the conference crown. Amherst falls to 15-3 with the setback.

Match Highlights

• After Hannah Hirschfeld opened the scoring for Bowdoin, Amherst rolled off five straight goals to take the lead.
• Five different scorers keyed the run for the Mammoths, who traded goals with the Polar Bears over the final ten minutes of the period to take a commanding 7-3 lead into intermission.
• Bowdoin's defense took over in the second half, limiting the Mammoths to nine shots and forcing ten turnovers to help spur the comeback.
• Meanwhile, Elizabeth Growney sparked the Bowdoin offense with four goals in the second half, including three goals in a 5-0 run to open the second period, giving the Polar Bears an 8-7 lead with 10:47 to go.
• Julia Crerend tied the score for Amherst with 9:23 on the clock, but first-year Amanda Anderson responded for Bowdoin with two goals in a span of three minutes, giving the Polar Bears a 10-8 lead with 4:17 left.
• Amherst trimmed the lead to 10-9 on a Katherine Malone goal with 2:38 to go, but Anderson scooped the ensuing draw control and Bowdoin put the game on ice with Growney's final goal of the match at 1:33.

By The Numbers

• Elizabeth Growney ended with four goals to lead Bowdoin while Hannah Hirschfeld and Amanda Anderson had two goals each.
• Anderson added four draw controls while Grace DeWald had a team-high six ground balls. 
• Three players scored twice for Amherst, including Katherine Malone, Hannah Fox and Julia Crerend.
• Claire Dunbar had a goal and three assists for Amherst. Maia Noyes led all players with eight draw controls.
• Kayli Weiss was outstanding in net for Bowdoin, stopping 12 shots for the Polar Bears. Talia Land had ten saves for Amherst.
• As the final score indicated, the game was incredibly close as the teams tied in shots (29-29) and draw controls (11-11) and turnovers (17-17) in the match.

Up Next

• In search of their first NESCAC title, Bowdoin will face Middlebury at 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Live coverage will be available at GoUBears.com