The Lady Polar Bears of Bowdoin College got off to a slow start Tuesday night. The nationally ranked girls had just one goal in the first period before exploding in the second for seven goals, five with under eight minutes left.
Sophomore goalie Jen Arno (Westford, MA) had an outstanding first period for the Huskies, making saves on the first 24 shots fired her way. Bowdoin had numerous point-blank scoring chances, all denied by Arno, who all but sacrificed her life to keep the Bears off the board. It wasn’t until only 23 seconds remained in the period that Bowdoin finally cracked the wall with the winning goal. Freshman Kristen Cameron (Charlottetown, PEI) buried the puck after a scramble in front of a diving Arno produced a rebound at the top of the crease.
Bowdoin scored two goals about a minute-and-a-half apart in the second before Arno shut them down again. Both goals were point blank; the first was almost stopped brilliantly by Arno, who moved from right to left in the net, performing a split in an attempt to stifle the shot.
USM hung tough throughout much of the second, but the speed and ability of Bowdoin’s forwards proved too much to handle as the Polar Bears took advantage of numerous turnovers and defensive breakdowns by the Huskies, who seemed worn out.
A pair of breakaways in the final two minutes capped a seven goal second period for the Polar Bears. Junior forward Marissa O’Neil (Manchester, NH) forced a turnover at the blue line which sprung freshman Katie Coyne’s (Madison, WI) breakaway goal with just under two minutes remaining. Cameron scored the final goal of the period off a beautiful pass around a USM defenseman from sophomore Katie Forney (Gettysburg, PA).
Arno was pulled after a rough end to the second period, which made room for sophomore Justene Larnerd (Cherry Hill, NJ). Arno made 37 saves on 45 shots throughout the first two periods. Larnerd also played well for the Huskies, making 10 saves on 12 shots in the third period.
Bowdoin capped the game with a pair of goals in the final stanza. Sophomore Meghan Gillis (Whycocomagh, N.S.) scored on an open net after a shot from classmate Lydia Hawkins (Woodstock, N.B.). A screen in front of Larnerd produced goal after a shot from the point by freshman Brittany Abery (Apple Valley, MN) snuck through her legs; Larnerd had no opportunity to make a save by the time she was able to see the puck.
USM had a handful of decent scoring opportunities throughout the night, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Bowdoin junior goalie Cat MacEachern (Berwick, N.S.) made 10 saves to post her ninth shutout of the season for the Polar Bears, who won their eighth straight game. They now stand at 12-3-1 overall on the season, while the Huskies dropped to 3-11-2 overall.
Note: the photos on this page were taken at the USM vs. Rensselaer game on Friday night.