Field hockey team bows down to Bowdoin, again

Author: Allison Ortega

For the field hockey team, the NESCAC final against Bowdoin represented an opportunity for redemption. It was a chance to prove that its lone regular season defeat to the Polar Bears was a fluke. Unfortunately for Middlebury, Bowdoin had different plans and dominated play en route to the team's second straight NESCAC Championship crown and a 1-0 victory.

The Panthers rolled into the championship game after breezing past Tufts 4-1 in the semifinals. Middlebury controlled the game from start to finish as the Jumbos could not handle the Panthers' well-balanced attack. Three minutes into the game, Sophie Thompson '09 opened the scoring off an assist from Marnie Rowe '08.5. Rowe scored the game's next goal when she banged home a rebound. Reid Berrien '08 finished the Panthers' first-half scoring at 14:21.

During the second half, midfielder Lacey Farrell '08 added to Middlebury's already insurmountable lead with her sixth goal of the season. It was only in the last minutes of the game that the Jumbos ended the Panthers' shutout bid.

Despite their impressive play on Saturday, the Panthers could not muster a repeat performance on Sunday. From the opening whistle, Bowdoin controlled the game as players racked up 17 shots and 11 penalty corners in the first half, compared to Middlebury's one shot and zero penalty corners. It was the spectacular play of goalie Meg McGillen '07 that kept the Polar Bears off of the scoreboard and enabled the Panthers to end the half with the game tied at zero.

During the second half, the Panthers were unable to change the game's tempo and continued to struggle to produce any offense. Bowdoin kept the play in Middlebury's end and, with 20 minutes remaining, Lindsay McNamara beat the seemingly impenetrable McGillen for the 1-0 lead. The close score, however, was not a representation of the game, but rather a testament to McGillen's talented goaltending. She finished with 17 saves on the day, while her counterpart Kate Leonard was forced to make just one.

The modest McGillen attributed her strong play to her teammates. "The key to my play against Bowdoin was playing with an awesome defense," she said. "The offense [also] came back to help."

Although the Panthers did not finish the season as the NESCAC champions, they were awarded an at-large bid to the NCAAs for their regular season performance.

"We have made it into NCAAs and as a team we are going to fight our way to the championship game," McGillen said.