MEDFORD, Mass. – The Bowdoin College men's lacrosse team rallied from a two-goal deficit with under two minutes to play to stun Amherst 15-14 in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday at Tufts University.
With the win, the Polar Bears set a new school record for wins in a season, improving to 16-1, and will face Tufts in the NESCAC Championship game Sunday at noon.
Game Highlights
- The teams traded blows in a back-and-forth opening half, which saw the teams tied at 4-4 following one quarter of play.
- Amherst opened up a 7-5 lead with a 3-1 surge to start the second quarter, only to see Bowdoin roll off a 4-0 run, capped by a prescient Will Byrne goal with just seconds left before the half to take a 9-7 edge at the break.
- The Mammoths put the Polar Bears in a hole with a impressive first 21 minutes of the second half, outscoring Bowdoin 7-2 to take a commanding 14-11 lead with 9:15 remaining.
- Amherst would not score again, however, and Patrick Fitzgerald scored at 7:49 to close the gap to 14-12, where it would stay until under two minutes to play.
- Following a big stop by the Bowdoin defense, Fitzgerald took a feed from Matt Ward and scored with 1:34 to go, cutting the lead to 14-13.
- After the teams traded turnovers, Bowdoin regained possession with under 50 seconds to play. Following a flurry of shots, the ball moved down low to Will Byrne, who buried a pass from Zach Chandler to tie the game with 15 seconds remaining.
- Ethan Barnard won the ensuing faceoff for the Polar Bears, charged downfield, was almost derailed by multiple Amherst defenders, but was able to get off a diving shot that beat Mammoth goaltender Mitch Likins with eight seconds remaining, sealing the unlikely comeback win for Bowdoin.
By The Numbers
- NESCAC Rookie of the Year Will Byrne led Bowdoin with four goals, including the game-tying tally, while Patrick Fitzgerald scored two of his three goals in the fourth quarter.
- Donal Mullane had two goals and an assist to raise his scoring total to 97 point, tying legendary Bowdoin scorer Tom Ryan '93 for the program mark for single-season points.
- Peter Kenerson had six ground balls, as did AJ Bravo, defending in front of Robert Hobbs, who finished with 13 saves for the Polar Bears.
- The win, which was the 16th of the season for the Polar Bears, breaks the former single-season record of 15 held by both the 1989 and '90 teams.
Up Next
- Bowdoin will look to avenge their only loss of the season on Sunday at Tufts, with game time set for noon. The Polar Bears will be making their fourth trip to the NESCAC title game (2006, '15, '18) and will be looking for their first conference championship.
