BRUNSWICK, Maine — Junior Katie Athanasoulas (Concord, Mass.) scored the only goal of the game midway through the third quarter and No. 9 Bowdoin College overcame rainy conditions to defeat No. 12 Babson College, 1-0, in a battle of nationally-ranked field hockey teams Tuesday afternoon at Howard F. Ryan Field.
With the setback, the Beavers have alternated wins and losses over the last six games and drop to 8-5 on the season. Bowdoin has posted five consecutive shutout victories to improve to 9-2 overall.
Junior Eva Filipponi (Wilton, Conn.) needed to make just one save to record her fifth shutout of the season for the Polar Bears. Sophomore goalie
Madison Tibbals (Gorham, Maine) made three saves in the setback, and junior
Lauren Golden (New Albany, Ohio) prevented further damage with a defensive save for the Beavers.
Bowdoin managed the only two shots in a scoreless first quarter, and Tibbals made a nice save on a deflection in front by senior Emily Ferguson (Shrewsbury, Mass.) on a penalty corner. The Beavers got their first shot off after a penalty corner early in the second frame but the attempt by senior
Emma Smith (Kenilworth, Ill.) was blocked. The first half ended with three shots for each team, and Babson taking two of the three penalty corners.
The Polar Bears broke the scoreless draw in the 37th minute. Tibbals denied junior Hannah Balmelli (Lake Forest, Ill.) on the initial shot attempt, but Athanasoulas lifted the rebound over a fallen Tibbals and just under the cross bar for a 1-0 lead. Bowdoin had a couple more chances on penalty corners, but Tibbals made a save on junior Ella Davies (Harpswell, Maine) and Golden cleared the ball off the goal line after an attempt by Balmelli.
The hosts secured a pair of corners in the fourth quarter but were unable to put any shots on goal. Babson pulled Tibbals in favor of an extra attacker with three minutes remaining but came up empty in its attempt for a tying goal.
The Polar Bears finished with a 9-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 edge in shots on goal along with a 5-3 margin in penalty corners.
Babson is right back in action on Thursday with a non-conference game at Trinity at 6 p.m. in Hartford, Conn. Bowdoin is home again on Saturday with a conference contest against No. 5 Hamilton at 11 a.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson had a three-game winning streak against Bowdoin snapped and is now 6-13 all-time against the Polar Bears in a series that dates back to 1985.
• The Green and White dropped to 2-4 versus nationally-ranked foes this fall but are 12-10 versus ranked opponents dating back to the start of the 2024 campaign.
• The Beavers are 10-8 versus NESCAC opponents over the last three seasons.
• Babson is 8-0 this fall when scoring first but 0-5 when conceding the first goal.
