We had another wild game with Bowdoin the other day on Youngman Field that ended up going right down to the wire, unfortunately our comeback attempt fell just short as time ran out. It was clear going into the game that Bowdoin was playing their best lacrosse of the season and in their win over Springfield last week they looked like a different team. I've been impressed with how physical Bowdoin is at both ends of the field, even on offense they lean in on you and will run through a slide. There were many instances in the Springfield game where Bowdoin actually delivered a blow and knocked over a sliding defender coming out to play them. Their goalie has also been playing very well between the pipes and didn't disappoint against us on Saturday.

It took us three quarters to adjust to the physicality and speed of the game against the Polar Bears and by the time we did, we had dug ourselves too big of a hole. Losing 7-3 heading into the 4th quarter our guys responded and had the ball down in our offensive end for most of the quarter. Stew Kerr stuck a shot on man up which was followed by goals from seniors Mike Giordano and Scott Redmond to pull us within a goal with 2 minutes to play. After Bowdoin won the face off we ended up getting a stop on defense but unfortunately lost the ball on the clear and had to work to get the ball back again with less than a minute to play. When we finally cleared the ball we ended up with a break and a nice look from about 6 yards out that missed the cage. On the inbounds we ended up with another look right on the doorstep but hit the goalie as the clock struck zero.

There are a number of takeaways from the game on Saturday. The first is that we're not where we want to be and that Bowdoin is playing the game at a higher level than we are at this point in the season. As coaches we can talk about how we need to play the game at a faster pace until we're blue in the face but until you step on a field with someone who's actually doing it, it may not sink in. Saturday was a good lesson for our team and an example of the level we need to reach in order to compete with the top teams in our league. The next thing we're learning is that we have a very good face off unit, Brian Foster had another outstanding day and won 12 out of 16 draws. Finally, I was pleased with how our group responded to getting beat up and being down at home for the first time all year, now I'm interested to see how they respond today in practice.

We have an amazing opportunity this week to get right back out on the field tomorrow against New England College and then have Amherst and Tufts on the road this weekend. I expect a great practice today and can't wait to see how much better this TEAM can be by this time next week!