Field Hockey Championship Field Announced

Bowdoin Enters Tournament as Top Seed, Unblemished Record

HADLEY, Mass. - Spurred by a record-setting season, Bowdoin College finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record to earn the top seed and the right to host the semifinals and final of the 2005 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship. The semifinals will take place on Saturday, November 5, followed on Sunday, November 6, by the championship in Brunswick, Maine. First round action for the seven-team tournament kicks off on Sunday, October 30.

The Polar Bears (14-0, 9-0 NESCAC) earned the right to host the semifinals and championship for the first time since 2002 by defeating Trinity 4-0 on Saturday, October 22. It is the third year in a row that the host team has posted an undefeated record entering the NESCAC tournament, as Middlebury sported back-to-back 9-0 marks in 2003 and 2004. Bowdoin won the inaugural NESCAC Field Hockey Championship in 2000, its only tournament victory.

Middlebury (12-2, 8-1 NESCAC) enters the championship securely in second place, with its only loss in conference play coming at the hands of Bowdoin, 2-1 in double overtime. The Panthers will host the Bobcats of Bates (7-7, 3-6 NESCAC), which became the last team in the seven-team field thanks to a 3-2 victory over Colby on Saturday combined with an Amherst loss to Williams (4-2). It will be Bates’ first appearance in the NESCAC Championship since 2002 and only the second time ever the Bobcats have earned a spot in the Field Hockey tournament. In their only other appearance, the Bobcats fell to the Panthers, 3-2 in overtime on Sunday, November 3, 2002.

Williams (10-4, 6-3 NESCAC) secured the third seed in the tournament last weekend with a 5-2 victory over Tufts at home. The Ephs, the defending NESCAC Field Hockey Champions, will face sixth-seeded Connecticut College on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The Camels (8-6, 4-5 NESCAC) made their way into the tournament field for the first time since the 2001 season. In the lone meeting of the season in Williamstown, Mass. on September 17, Williams defeated Connecticut College, 6-1. The two teams have only met once in the postseason, coming during the inaugural championship in 2000, when then third-seed Williams defeated sixth-seed Connecticut College 4-1.

While Wesleyan (10-4, 5-4 NESCAC) finished tied for fourth with Tufts (8-6, 5-4 NESCAC) in the standings, Wesleyan earned the right to host a first round game on Sunday thanks to a mid-week win by the Cardinals over the Jumbos, 2-0 on Wednesday. It may seem like déjà vu for both teams, after the two squads were in the exact same position during last season’s championship, with Tufts posting a 2-0 shutout over host Wesleyan to advance to the semifinals. The only other time the two teams met in the NESCAC Field Hockey Championship was back in 2000, when once again fifth-seeded Tufts upended fourth-seed Wesleyan 2-1 in overtime.

2005 NESCAC FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Sunday, Oct. 30 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Bates at No. 2 Middlebury - 1:00 p.m.
No. 6 Connecticut College at No. 3 Williams - 1:00 p.m.
No. 5 Tufts at No. 4 Wesleyan - 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, Nov. 5 at Bowdoin
No. 1 Bowdoin vs. Lowest remaining seed - 11:00 a.m.
Remaining first round winners - 1:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, Nov. 6 at Bowdoin
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.