Courtesy Bowdoin Sports Information

Box Score

BRUNSWICK, Maine - A Bowdoin College own-goal six seconds into overtime gave the seventh-seeded Bates College men's lacrosse team a stunning 6-5 victory in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Sunday. The Bobcats (9-5) advance to the NESCAC Semifinals, where they will play at top-seeded Middlebury next Saturday at noon. Bowdoin ends their season with a record of 10-5.

The Polar Bears peppered Bates goaltender Paul Kazarian in the first period, and the Bobcat netminder was up to the task. Kazarian made nine saves in the first frame, including a nifty kick save and a ball off the facemask. The Bobcats took advantage of strong play between the pipes, taking 1-0 lead after the first quarter on a goal from Amandi Cisse. The Bobcats doubled their lead early in the second frame when Matt Erisman found the back of the net to make it 2-0.

Bowdoin replied with a four-goal spurt to take a 4-2 edge at intermission. Ryan Hurd got the run started with a goal at 9:16 and Alex Weaver tied the game up with a low shot that skipped under the stick of Kazarian just minutes later. Connor Fitzgerald gave Bowdoin the lead with a turnaround one-timer off a pass from Hurd at 5:19 and a spinning shot from 10 yards by Weaver tucked inside the lower right corner to give the Polar Bears a lead at the break.

Bates answered by holding Bowdoin scoreless in the third frame, and the Bobcats drew within a single goal at 5:34 when Justin Simon swiped a shot inside the top left corner off nice feed from Erisman. Three minutes later, Bates evened the score on the man advantage when Peter Friedman took a feed from Dan Ross and buried a quick shot to tie the game at four apiece.

The Bobcats took the lead in the fourth quarter when Wes Couture took a turnaround jump shot that slipped inside the right post for the go-ahead score at 12:26. But Bowdoin took advantage of a man-up situation with

8:25 left when Brad Gillis rifled a high shot under the crossbar to even the game, 5-5. Bowdoin gained another man-up advantage with 1:19 left in regulation, but Kazarian made a strong save to keep the game tied and send the contest into overtime.

Bowdoin won the faceoff in overtime, but when attempting to retreat into their defensive zone in order to clear, an errant pass trickled into an open net, giving Bates a stunning victory just six seconds into the extra session. Kazarian was outstanding in goal, stopping 16 shots for the Bobcats. Charlie Legg was credited with six saves for Bowdoin.