After a 9-3 loss at the hands of a talented Trinity squad on Tuesday, April 8, the women’s lacrosse team traveled to Brunswick, Maine to take on the Bowdoin Polar Bears. Though the Polar Bears are ranked seventh in the NESCAC standings with a record of 4-5, they are currently one of eight NESCAC teams ranked nationally, at 16th  in Division III. With so many nationally ranked teams in the conference, the Cardinals’ schedule poses many tough challenges. Bowdoin was yet another one, and while the Cards battled, they fell 9-6.

The Polar Bears jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of play, with Bowdoin’s Jordan Smith scoring each of the three goals. With about five minutes remaining in the first half, Caty Daniels ’15 opened up the scoring for Wesleyan with her 10th goal of the season. Bowdoin answered with another goal from Smith about a minute later, making it 4-1 at the half. Smith finished with six goals in the game.

Captain Madeline Coulter ’14 opened up the scoring in the second half with her 16th goal of the season on a free position shot about two minutes in. After two more Bowdoin goals, Abby Wheeler ’17 netted her 11th of the season to make it 6-3. Bowdoin quickly answered with a goal 17 seconds later, which was followed up by a Cardinal score off a free position shot by Leah Sherman ’15, her 12th goal on the year.

After two more Bowdoin goals made it 9-4, Liana Mathias ’17 and Morgan Moubayed ’17 each struck for the Cardinals, making the score 9-6 with about six minutes left to play. Wesleyan was not able to cut any further into the lead, however; Moubayed’s goal would be the last of the game, and Bowdoin was able to hold on for the 9-6 win.

With an aggressive game-plan, Wesleyan forced Bowdoin into 13 turnovers, with midfielder Moubayed causing three herself and picking up three ground balls. Emily Gretsky ’16 picked up two ground balls, giving her a total of 24 on the season, good for second- most on the team. Along with her goal, Wheeler was able to secure five draw controls in the game as well. Goalkeeper Nina Labovich ’16, came away with seven saves in the game.

“I think we showed some fight and that we’re still growing as a team,” starting defender Meghan Kelly ’17 wrote in an e-mail to The Argus.

Growth is a keyword for this Cardinal team, as a handful of developing freshman, like Kelly, have played key roles on the team this season.

“I think game experience at such a young age will definitely give us an advantage in the coming years,” Kelly said, “But it’s also really important to just keep focus on this year and this team and this season.”

With their loss to Bowdoin, the Cardinals’ record moved to 0-8 in the NESCAC and 5-8 overall. With the conference playoffs out of reach, the Cardinals will look to finish out the season strong with contests against Tufts and Conn College. The Cards will play their final home game of the season at Smith Field against Tufts on Saturday, April 19.