BRUNSWICK — Rachel Kennedy scored three times as the Bowdoin College field hockey team secured the top seed for the New England Small College Athletic Conference Tournament with a 4-0 win over Tufts on Wednesday night.
In a battle of the last two Division III champions, the secondranked Polar Bears (14-1, 9-1 NESCAC) gained the NESCAC’s top seed for the first time since 2011. They will host Hamilton on Saturday in a NESCAC quarterfinal game at Ryan Field at 1 p.m.
Ninth-ranked Tufts will be the fifth seed for the conference tournament and will travel to play fourth-seeded Amherst in the opening round Saturday.
Kennedy continued her hot play, racking up her fourth hat trick in the last six matches. The junior has scored 19 goals in the last seven games for Bowdoin.
Earning a corner just over five minutes into the first frame, the Polar Bears took a quick 1-0 lead off Kennedy’s first goal of the evening. With Colleen Finnerty set at the top of the circle to receive and drive a hard shot on net, Kennedy snuck her stick just in front of Bri Keenan’s left foot to deflect the ball into Tufts cage.
Kennedy tallied her second of the half 10 minutes later, collecting a loose ball in the circle, and flipping a backhanded shot inside the right post.
The junior forward completed her hat trick by finishing off a feed from Adrienne O’Donnell, cutting along the end line just five minutes later to give the hosts a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Juliana Fiore picked up her third goal in the last two games to put Bowdoin ahead 4-0 six minutes into the second half. As the ball crossed the circle, Fiore one-timed a sweep that beat Keenan on her blocker side.
Keenan stopped six shots for the Jumbos. Hannah Gartner made three saves for the Polar Bears. Bowdoin held a 12-5 advantage in shots and an 8-5 lead on penalty corners.
Women’s soccer
Bowdoin secured the second seed for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament with a 3-1 victory in its regular-season finale Tuesday afternoon against Tufts.
The Polar Bears (11-3-0, 8-2-0 NESCAC) earned their highest regular season finish in the NESCAC standings since 2003 and will host a NESCAC quarterfinal game on Saturday in quick turnaround against No. 7 Tufts at 12:30 p.m.
Bowdoin got on the board early as Amanda Kinneston pressured the Tufts defense, causing a turnover that came to Abby Einwag on the left wing. Einwag lofted a cross to the head of Maggie Godley on the far post, who deposited it into the net just 2:42 into the contest.
The Polar Bears cashed in again 20 minutes later as Eliza Nitzan flicked a ball onto a running Kinneston, who tapped a throughball to Evan Fencik. Fencik settled it on the right side of the box and coolly slipped a shot past Tufts netminder Eileen McGarry at 24:34.
The Jumbos were able to respond before the break as Alexa Pius made a strong run down the left wing and played a dangerous cross into the Bowdoin box. The ball trickled through the Polar Bear defense to the far post, where Victoria Stoj tapped a low shot into the net at 35:37, making it 2-1 heading into intermission.
Bowdoin got some breathing room midway through the final period when Anna Mellman played a long clearing ball that Kiersten Turner was able to run onto. Turner outpaced the Tufts defense and rifled a shot inside the right post at 63:13 to regain Bowdoin’s two-goal lead at 3-1. It marked Turner’s 23rd career goal, moving the junior into 10th place all-time in Bowdoin women’s soccer history.
Bridget McCarthy made the lead stand by making both of her saves in the final 30 minutes to secure the victory. McGarry finished with nine saves for the Jumbos. The Polar Bears held a 21-10 shots advantage and a 9-2 lead in corner kicks.
Men’s soccer
The Polar Bears rallied from a two-goal deficit with under 20 minutes remaining to earn a 2-2 NESCAC draw with nationallyranked Tufts on Wednesday afternoon at Pickard Field.
The Polar Bears moved to 8-6-1 overall (4-5-1 NESCAC) with their first tie of the campaign and secured the sixth seed for the upcoming conference tournament. Bowdoin will travel to play at Williams in the NESCAC quarterfinals on Saturday at noon. Tufts, the 12th-ranked team in the nation, stands at 10-1-4 (7-0-3 NESCAC) and entered the game having already secured the top seed for the NESCAC Championship. The Jumbos will host Connecticut College on Saturday.
Tufts jumped ahead in the 16th minute as a set piece by the Jumbos from 30-yards out was crossed into the Bowdoin box. An initial shot was deflected by Bowdoin keeper Stevie Van Siclen and caromed off the crossbar into traffic where Kyle Volpe pounced on the rebound at 15:32 to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Tufts doubled its lead shortly before intermission as Connor Brown played give-and-go with Gaston Becherano, who ripped a low shot past a diving Van Siclen at 42:42.
The Jumbos appeared to have the game in hand as the contest entered the 70th minute before Bowdoin mounted a furious comeback with two goals in a threeminute span. Kiefer Solarte set up Bowdoin’s first goal, winning a battle for the ball on the right wing and chipping a pass into the box for an oncoming Nick Stefano, who headed it under the crossbar at 70:06.
Moments later, Bowdoin evened the score as Eric Goitia cracked a free kick to the top-right corner from 25-yards out, knotting the game at 72:59.
The best chance for either team to win it in regulation came from Tufts’ Scott Sclar, who came loose on the right side of the box with under 14 minutes to play. Sclar’s curving shot hit the post and the game headed into overtime.
Neither team put a shot on goal in either extra session, as the squads settled for the 2-2 deadlock.
Tufts outshot Bowdoin 18-9 and held a 5-2 edge in corner kicks. Van Siclen stopped eight shots in goal for Bowdoin. Scott Greenwood made two saves in goal for the Jumbos.
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