#2 Bowdoin Edges #10 Blue Field Hockey

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Second ranked Bowdoin handed tenth ranked Wellesley College Field Hockey its first defeat of the season on Wednesday night as Kimmy Ganong's marker at 20:27 of the first gave the Polar Bears the 1-0 victory. Bowdoin remains unbeaten on the season, improving to 6-0, while the Blue now stand at 9-1 overall. 

Both Wellesley goalie Lucy Hurlock and Bowdoin netminder Hannah Gartner made five saves in the contest, despite Bowdoin's 14-6 advantage in shots. Wellesley earned a 7-6 advantage in penalty corners.

Bowdoin held a substantial shot advantage in the first half, outshooting the Blue 10-2. The pressure eventually paid off for the hosts as Ganong scored the lone goal of the contest on a feed from Emily Simonton at 20:27. Ganong passed to her left and connected with Emily Simonton on the top of the circle, whose through-pass rolled over the stroke line where Ganong stepped into her sweep to one-touch the ball to the left corner.

Ganong's first half marker turned out to be all that Bowdoin would need as the Polar Bears withstood increased pressure from the Blue in the second half to earn the victory. 

Wellesley earned five of its seven penalty corners after the break but were unable to crack Gartner and the Bowdoin defense. The Blue's best chance of the evening came with just over five minutes to play as Nikki Sharkin fired a shot on the cage following a penalty corner that was turned away by Bowdoin's Kelsey Mullaney, who came to the aid of Gartner to preserve the shutout and the victory for Bowdoin.

The Blue will look to bounce back when they host Smith College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference matchup on Saturday at noon. Bowdoin will also be in action on Saturday when they host Trinity in New England Small College Athletic Conference action at 11:00 a.m.