BRUNSWICK, Maine - The 15th-ranked Colby College women's lacrosse team scored five straight goals to close the first half, rallying from an early deficit to take a 13-8 win over 11th-ranked Bowdoin on Wednesday evening in Brunswick. The victory improves the Mules to 7-4 (2-4 in NESCAC play), while dropping Bowdoin to 6-5 (2-4). The two teams join Tufts (6-5, 2-4) in a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference.

Bowdoin jumped ahead early, taking a 4-2 edge thanks to a pair of Bridget Keating goals in the first 16 minutes. But Allie Libby keyed a 5-0 surge for Colby, who saw five different players score in the final 12:57 of the first stanza. Lauren Barrett, Becky Julian, Kate Sheridan and Lauren Strazzula also scored in the run to flip the tables and give the visitors a three-goal edge (7-4) at the break.

Grace Moore gave Bowdoin hope early in the second frame, scoring just 19 seconds in to cut the edge to 7-5. But that proved as close as the Polar Bears could get, as Libby answered just 12 seconds later with a tally, sparking a 6-1 run that gave the Mules a 13-6 lead with 11:14 to play.

Libby led all players with four goals, while Sheridan and Heather Nickerson had two goals and an assist for Colby. Strazzula also netted two scores, while Sheridan also led the team with four groundballs, three draw controls and two caused turnovers. Catharine O'Brien was forced to make 10 saves in a strong effort between the pipes for Colby.

Keating led Bowdoin with two goals and an assist with Moore also scoring twice. Bobbi Dennison collected two assists on the night. Stephanie Collins-Finn (42:08, six saves, 11 goals-against) and Kat Popoff (17:52, one save, two goals-against) split time in net for Bowdoin, who hit five posts on the evening.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday at home against eighth-ranked Amherst. Colby will host Connecticut College.

Box score

2007-04-18