BRUNSWICK, Maine – Bowdoin College's Jason Lach tallied four goals and the nationally ranked No. 14 Polar Bears posted a 17-16 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Bowdoin's Whittier Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
How It Happened

• Christian Byrne '24 capped a four-goal run for Hamilton with an unassisted tally after a Bowdoin turnover and gave the Continentals a 9-7 advantage with 2:45 left in the second quarter.
• The Polar Bears responded with five straight goals and led the rest of the way.
• Lach scored the first two and Patrick Fitzgerald put Bowdoin in the lead for good at 10-9 with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter. Sam Raye-Steiner scored 33 seconds later, and Sam Powell made it 12-9 with 7:44 to go in the third.
• Byrne opened the scoring with a man-up goal 5:04 into the first quarter.
• Lach countered with Bowdoin's first goal 93 seconds later.
• The Polar Bears closed out the opening quarter with two more goals for a 3-1 advantage.
• Fitzgerald and Benny Rakower netted back-to-back goals 10 seconds apart for a 5-1 Bowdoin cushion less than a minute into the second quarter.
• Thirteen goals were scored during a wild second quarter.
• Torben Wunderle '23 sparked Hamilton's offense shortly after the ensuing faceoff, which was won by Alec Zenker '23.
• Rowan Brumbaugh '23 took advantage of a man-up opportunity and cut Hamilton's deficit to 5-3 with 11:55 remaining.
• Wunderle scored Hamilton's next two goals and knotted the score at 5-5 with 9:21 left in the second.
• Lach and Ethan Barnard regained the lead for Bowdoin on goals just seven seconds apart.
• Will Heher '25 and Thomas Healy '26 answered with consecutive man-up and tied the score at 7-7 with 7:00 to go.
• Brumbaugh gave the Continentals an 8-7 lead with 5:56 left in the second.
• Hamilton held a 9-8 edge going into the break.
• The Polar Bears allowed just one goal in the third quarter and took a 13-10 lead into the last 15 minutes.
• Bowdoin's Oliver Bernstein struck first in the final quarter for a four-goal cushion.
• After a Hamilton timeout, Wunderle chipped away at the Polar Bears' lead on a feed from Byrne.
• The Continentals struck again on a goal by Matt Mirkovic '23 after a pass from Brumbaugh with 7:29 left.
• Michael Scoleri '24 was aggressive in the circle for a faceoff win and scored to put Hamilton within one just six seconds later.
• After Bowdoin scored off the ensuing faceoff, the Continentals pulled within one again at 15-14 on another goal by Brumbaugh with 6:19 remaining.
• Tim Sommer '23 scored on a pass from Healy with 44 seconds left for the final margin.
• The Polar Bears won the next faceoff and called two timeouts in the final 26 seconds to help keep possession and hold on for the win.
• Bowdoin owned a 23-14 advantage on faceoffs.
• Hamilton held a 47-45 edge on shots.

 
Notes

• Hamilton moved to 1-2 overall on the season and 0-2 in the NESCAC.
• Bowdoin (1-1, 1-1) is ranked 14th in the USILA Division III Top 20 poll.
• Wunderle, who set career highs with five goals and eight points, leads Hamilton with 11 goals and 16 points.
• Brumbaugh collected three goals and a career-best four assists.
• Healy buried two goals and dished out two assists.
• Scoleri registered his first career goal.
• Byrne scored his first two goals this season.
• Heher, Mirkovic and Sommer added one goal each.
• Seamus Fagan '23 stopped 12 shots for the Continentals.
• Jayme Wilde '25 caused three turnovers for Hamilton.
• Fitzgerald and Raye-Steiner scored three goals each for the Polar Bears.
• Barnard recorded 21 of Bowdoin's 23 faceoff wins. He netted two goals and picked up a team-best 11 ground balls.
• Will Byrne tallied a team-best four assists.
• Powell added two goals and an assist.
• Bernstein, Rakower and Parker Childs notched one goal each.
• Robert Hobbs collected 14 saves for the Polar Bears.

 
Next Game

• Hamilton will travel to Troy, N.Y., for a non-conference matchup with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday, March 15 at 4:30 p.m.