AMHERST, Mass. — Stevie Van Siclen made two saves in penalty kicks to help sixth-seeded Bowdoin College claim its first New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s soccer title with a 5-4 shootout advantage over No. 2 Amherst following 110 scoreless minutes in the conference championship game Sunday afternoon.
Van Siclen, who made two saves in regulation and one in the second overtime, stopped Amherst’s Bryce Ciambella in the first round of penalty kicks before smothering a shot from Mike Hoeksema in the sixth round to secure the victory.
Thomas Henshall converted the deciding kick for the Polar Bears (9-6-3), who reached the title game in similar fashion, defeating Middlebury in penalty kicks after a scoreless tie in the semifinals.
Austin Downing, Matt Dias Costa, Sam Ward and Kiefer Solarte also converted penalty kicks for Bowdoin.
The Polar Bears ended a string of three straight NESCAC titles for Amherst (13-1-4) and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. Pairings will be announced Monday.
FIELD HOCKEY
MIDDLEBURY 2, BOWDOIN 1: Catherine Fowler scored with 26 seconds remaining, and the second-seeded Panthers (17-1) beat the top-ranked Polar Bears (16-2) in the NESCAC final for the third straight season.
Middlebury drew a late penalty corner, and after Alyssa DiMaio inserted the ball, Fowler ripped a low, hard shot through traffic.
Meredith Tibbals gave host Bowdoin a lead in the 10th minute. Hollis Perticone answered in the 32nd minute.
Hannah Gartner made four saves for the Polar Bears.
Despite the loss, Bowdoin received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and will host a second-round game Saturday against Mt. Holyoke (16-3) or Husson (9-8). The Polar Bears are seeking their fifth NCAA title in eight years.
The University of New England (16-6), which qualified by winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, will play at home Wednesday against Simmons (13-5) in a first-round match. The winner advances to play Middlebury on Saturday.
WOMEN’S RUGBY
BOWDOIN 51, COLORADO COLLEGE 5: The Polar Bears (9-0) scored six first-half tries and rolled to a win over Colorado College in the first round of the American Collegiate Rugby Association Division II tournament at Brunswick.
Randi London, Pamela Zabala and Vianney Gomezgil scored two tries apiece for Bowdoin, which advances to the regionals at Dartmouth College, where the Polar Bears will face Rutgers on Saturday.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
NAVY PREP 84, SMCC 64: Tyra Hughes scored 26 points for Navy Prep (4-0) in a win over Southern Maine Community College (2-3) at South Portland.
Amira Jones had 16 points and nine rebounds to pace the Seawolves. Jennifer Genthner chipped in with 12 points.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
