BRUNSWICK — Bates College’s and Bowdoin’ men’s lacrosse showdown was a game of momentum swings. The Bobcats got the last swing by scoring four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter for a 13-12 victory over the Polar Bears on Wednesday.
It was a quiet game for midfielder Kyle Weber until he tied it at 12-12 with a man-up goal with 2:34 remaining in the game. He then netted the game-winner with 18.4 seconds when he ripped a shot past Polar Bears’ goalie Peter Munford.
“We needed to score,” Weber said. “We were down a few times, the defense played great, Sam (Francis) in the faceoffs and in the wings absolutely battled to get in a groove. Know what? They were two assisted goals, Jake (Walsh) found me and Andrew (Melvin) found me. I had the easy job, honestly.”
Walsh had the assist on the tying goal, while Melvin assisted on the game-winner.
The two players who put the Bobcats on their shoulders were freshman Matt Chlastawa and senior Charlie Fay. Fay got the Bobcats within two with his fourth goal of the evening 3:40 into the final quarter. Chlastawa scored his third goal of the evening at the 8:16 mark to get Bates within one.
“It’s so fun to see a freshman in his first Bowdoin game at Bowdoin respond like that,” Bates coach Peter Lasagna said.
Bowdoin jumped out to a 12-9 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter with goals from Matt Crowell and Brett Kujala.
“As you know, (when) you average as many goals as we do, we aren’t concerned about a three-goal lead,” Lasagna said. “Bowdoin executed their offense very well, I thought, especially in the second half. So I give them a ton of credit for that. We got some key stops and Kyle’s extra-man goal was big. That was gigantic.”
Chlastawa opened the scoring 2:42 into the game.
Bowdoin jumped out to a 3-2 lead after one quarter as Jimmy Young scored twice and Tim Belens added the other goal.
Clarke Jones scored for Bates with half a second remaining in the quarter.
Fay dominated scored a hat trick in the second quarter, and Bates had a 6-5 lead going into halftime. Walsh also scored for the Bobcats. Shawn Daly and Jake Crossman scored for the Polar Bears.
“Early on, Kyle wasn’t hitting on his shots. But we know, as a shooter, we are going to tell him as much as we can to keep taking those shots.” Fay said. “We know eventually he’s going to start stinging them, that’s what he does. In the meantime we had to hold over and do as we could as an offense. I tried to do all I could to keep the game going until Weber got hot.”
Crowell and Shawn Daly scored early in the third to give Bowdoin a 7-6 lead. The teams traded goals as Bowdoin went up 8-7, Chlastawa scoring for Bates and Sam Carlin for Bowdoin.
Daniel O’Berry and Bulens stretched the lead to 10-8.
Andrew Small capped the scoring in the third for the Bobcats.
Andrew Small of Bates College passes to teammate Andrew Melvin during the first half against Bowdoin College in Brunswick on Wednesday.
Scott Baber of Bates College passes to teammate Charlie Fay during the first half against Bowdoin College in Brunswick on Wednesday. Baber’s pass was an assist as Fay put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game up at four.
Charlie Fay of Bates College goes down with Parker Sessions and Peter Mumford of Bowdoin College during the first half in Brunswick on Wednesday.
Andrew Melvin of Bates College fires a shot between Max Nordeen, left, and Bowdoin goalkeeper Peter Mumford during the first half in Brunswick on Wednesday.
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