No. 2 Bowdoin Tops No. 9 Wellesley Field Hockey in Battle of Unbeaten Teams

Photo Credit: Alex Berman Photography

WELLESLEY, Massachusetts – Second-ranked Bowdoin College scored two goals in the second half to earn a 2-0 victory over No. 9 Wellesley College Field Hockey on Thursday afternoon. Bowdoin improves to 7-0 on the season after handing the Blue (8-1) their first loss of the year.

Bowdoin senior Rachel Kennedy (Trumbull, Conn.) broke a 0-0 tie in the game's 50^th minute, scoring her team-leading 15^th goal of the season after corralling the ball at the top of the arc when it looked like the Blue might break-up the Polar Bears' attack. Keenedy then unleashed a shot that Blue junior goalkeeper Lucy Hurlock (Needham, Mass.) got a piece of before it crashed into the back of the Wellesley cage.

 

Hurlock finished with 10 saves, shutting down Bowdoin time and time again to keep the Blue within reach throughout the contest. Hurlock recorded three saves in the first half before adding seven after the break, as the Polar Bears outshot the Blue by a 16-1 margin. Bowdoin also held a 9-1 edge in penalty corners.

The Polar Bears took advantage of their final penalty corner opportunity to add an insurance marker with just under four minutes remaining. Junior Mettler Growney (New Canna, Conn.) injected the ball to classmate Emily McColgan (Walpole, Mass.) to start the play. McColgan calmly took a touch before finding senior Kelsey Mullaney (Boston, Mass.), who fired it past Hurlock for her first of the year.

Wellesley's best opportunity to get on the board came 24 minutes into the contest on a penalty corner play drawn up for junior Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.). After receiving the injection from first year Rachel Hwang (Campbell, Calif.), Peterson flicked a shot high into the air that briefly froze Bowdoin goalkeeper Clara Belitz (Del Mar, Calif.) before landing just wide and out of play.

Wellesley will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play in their next outing, when they travel to Smith at 12:00 PM on Saturday, October 3. Bowdoin will continue non-conference play when they host Maine-Farmington at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, October 6.