BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Bowdoin College men's soccer team will battle SUNY Oneonta in the Third Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday in Amherst, Mass.
The Polar Bears (12-1-5) and Red Dragons (15-2-3) will play at 1:30 p.m. at Amherst College, immediately following the host school Amherst (14-1-4) and Mary Washington (12-4-3) at 11:00 a.m. The winners will play at 1:00 p.m. Sunday for the right to go to the national semifinals December 1 in Roanoke, Va.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Northeast Sports Network will cover all three games this weekend at Amherst. Live stats will also be available at GoUBears.com
ABOUT THE POLAR BEARS
Bowdoin is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance, but first trip to the third round since 2010, when they advanced to the semifinals of the national tournament...the Polar Bears advanced out of a home first/second round regional last weekend, defeating the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 3-1 on Saturday before tying Vassar 1-1 and advancing on penalty kicks into the Round of 16…Bowdoin earned an at-large bid following a first-place finish in the NESCAC regular season, before falling in penalty kicks in the opening round of the conference tournament to Connecticut College and settling for a Pool C berth...ranked eighth nationally heading into the tournament, the Polar Bears became the first NESCAC team since 2008 to sweep the league's major awards as defender
Dylan Reid (Player of the Year), midfielder
Tyler Huck (Rookie of the Year) and head coach
Scott Wiercinski (Coach of the Year) were all recognized...Reid, midfielder
Julian Juantorena and goaltender
Michael Webber were all named as First Team selections...Bowdoin led the NESCAC in goals against average and currently stands sixth nationally at 0.43 goals/game...the Polar Bears allowed six goals in the regular season, including two in the entire month of October, when they had a scoreless streak of over 613 minutes...Bowdoin is 5-5-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
AGAINST REGIONAL OPPONENTS
Bowdoin has not played SUNY Oneonta or Mary Washington in its 64-year history as a program. The Polar Bears are extremely familiar with Amherst, however, having played 63 times in their NESCAC rivalry dating back to 1968. The teams played to a 0-0 tie earlier this fall in Amherst and, in the team's only previous NCAA Tournament meeting, played to a 1-1 deadlock in the 2010 tournament, with Bowdoin advancing on penalty kicks.
