Box Score MEDFORD – The Jumbos (10-5, 6-4 NESCAC) fell to #5 Bowdoin (13-2, 8-2 NESCAC) 11-9 in the regular season finale under the lights on Bello Field. Tufts will be on the road this weekend for the first round of the NESCAC Tournament, while the Polar Bears will host a game in Brunswick. First-year Jenn Duffy notched a hat-trick for the Jumbos, while Bowdoin senior midfielder Taylor Wilson was nearly perfect on free-positions, scoring four out of five.
Despite a great defensive effort giving up just three goals in almost 22 minutes of action, Tufts eventually saw their three-goal lead erased in the final minutes of the first half.
Wilson, who had those three lone Bowdoin goals, owned the first 30 seconds of the game as she controlled the first draw, sprinted into the offensive zone, and put away a free-position shot.
Jumbo middie Brigid Bowser replicated Wilson's effort with a draw control and a free-position of her own, and then struck again four minutes later after a speedy move to her right.
Duffy completed a three-goal run with a nice lefty finish after Emily Wright found her wide-open in transition.
Wilson shortly stopped the bleeding with a second free-position, but attacker Caroline Ross began to find an offensive rhythm.
She received a pass on the move taking her defender through the middle of the fan to the left side, but shot it back across the goal mouth to the far lower right corner before freshman goalkeeper Kayli Weiss had time to slide back. Less than two minutes later, Ross worked underneath this time along the goal line extended, where she eventually got inside her defender and perfectly placed a shot into the side netting.
But just 17 seconds later, Wilson countered with yet another draw control, downfield race, and free-position goal to keep the Polar Bears within two.
Attacker Annie Nero responded just 30 seconds later with a free-position bouncer to put the lead at 6-3 with just over 13 minutes left.
Bowdoin carried the final ten minutes of the half, however, and capitalized on three Tufts turnovers to net three goals and knot the game at six at the half. Senior middie Clare McLaughlin wove between a double team, protecting her stick, and finished at the cage. Then, junior middie Lindsay Picard drove the lane for a score. And finally, sophomore middie Brooke Bullington finished an uncontested shot when junior middie Emma Beecher found her wide-open in the eight.
The Polar Bears came out firing and took their first lead since the opening minutes as sophomore attacker Mettler Growney and Picard scored just over a minute into the second frame for an 8-6 advantage. The quick start would be deceiving, however, as there would be almost 20 minutes of scoreless action in the stanza.
Midfielder Lindsey Walker converted a free-position less than two minutes later followed by a ten-plus minute scoring drought.
Both teams had several possessions during the skid, but neither was able to find the back of the net until Picard put home a free-position goal to bring the Polar Bear lead back to two.
Another nine minutes ticked off the clock before McLaughlin made a spectacular swim-like move where she switched to her left and snuck one past the freshman Hannah Wiltshire for the 10-7 edge with just under eight minutes to play.
Duffy tallied two goals in the next five minutes, one a free-position and one a pretty quick-stick from Ross, but they sandwiched a fourth Wilson free-position, who was stellar in the transition game all evening. The Jumbos could not manage the comeback in time.
Wilson also finished with four draw controls, while senior defender Natalie Moore played well on defense with three caused turnovers and two ground balls. After entering the game just over 16 minutes in, Weiss stopped eight shots and recorded the W.
Bowser and Ross ended their day with two goals apiece, while Bowser added five draw controls and two ground balls. Wright picked up three ground balls, forced two turnovers, and won two draws. Wiltshire performed well in net registering eight saves.
Tufts will travel for their NESCAC Tournament first-round matchup this Saturday, while the two-seed Bowdoin returns to Brunswick to host their first-round contest.
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