Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Bowdoin College (6-2/4-2 NESCAC) men's lacrosse team got a goal from long stick defender Mac Caputi in transition with 3:18 left in the fourth OT session to defeat Williams College (3-4/ 2-3 NESCAC) 7-6 today on Renzie Lamb Field
Bowdoin's Samuel Hodgson scooped up a ground ball off a save by Bowdoin goalie Christopher Williams off a shot in close by the Ephs' Evan Dedominicis and quickly scampered forward where he found Billy Bergner with a pass. Bergner relayed the ball to Caputi who fired off a shot from 17 yards out on the left side of the goal that crashed into the netting just 42 seconds into the fourth extra session.
Bowdoin opened the game by scoring three first quarter goals and blanking the Ephs. All three Bowdoin scores were unassisted: Franklin Reis (7:09), Connor O'Toole (5:48) and Peter Reuter (3:15).
Williams climbed back into the contest by netting the first two goals of the second quarter. Will Stewart ripped in a shot from 15 yards out to the left of the goal at 12:58. Then the Ephs tallied another unassisted goal when Colton Growney scored in a man-up situation (5:20).
Bowdoin answered the Growney goal at 3:55 when Sether Hanson hit a cutting Billy Bergner who scored from in close with Bowdoin having an extra man due to an Eph penalty.
At the half Bowdoin led 4-2.
Will Stewart and Colton Growney teamed up for the Ephs' third goal at 12:23 of the third quarter with Stewart scoring and Growney assisting, cutting the Bowdoin lead to one, 4-3.
Bowdoin was able to increase their lead to 6-3 at the end of the third quarter when they scored two more goals in the final 5:50 of the frame. Franklin Reis had a hand in both goals. Reis setup Billy Bergner at 5:50 and then notched an unassisted score with 59 seconds left.
The Ephs' Steven Kiesel owned the fourth quarter and got the Ephs back into the game with two unassisted tallies in a six-minute span. He also t fed Andy Grabowski for the game-tying goal with 9.4 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Bowdoin was in possession of the ball with just under two minutes left, but Eph defender Stephen Upton caused a turnover at 1:26 and raced forward to the offensive zone.
After an Eph timeout with 1:18 to play Bowdoin was called for tripping giving Williams a man-up opportunity for 60 of the 66 remaining seconds.
Kiesel faked giving the ball to Grabowski as they crossed up top and rolled down his right side toward the goal and then he flipped the ball back to Grabowski for the game-knotting score.
Grabowski's goal came in traffic from about six yards out to the left of the goal, while Bowdoin was a man down.
The Ephs took advantage of their late-game momentum to fashion several good scoring opportunities in the first three OT sessions only to see Bowdoin goalie Christopher Williams deny all of their extra time efforts.
It was Williams who made a save on an Evan Dedominicis shot early in the fourth overtime session that started the chain of events that led to Caputi's heroics.
Billy Bergner and Franklin Reis led the Bowdoin attack as they each scored two goals and assisted on one. Steven Kiesel and Will Stewart each netted two goals for Williams and Kiesel added an assist.
Bowdoin goalie Christopher Williams denied 14 of 20 Ephs shots on the day, while Eph netminder Dan Whittam stopped 9 of 16 Polar Bear shots.
Williams won 10 of 19 faceoffs on the day and Bowdoin committed five penalties to the Ephs' two. The Polar Bears turned the ball over 25 times, while the Ephs committed 23 miscues. Ground balls were equally as close with Bowdoin registering 26 and the Ephs 28.
The win is Bowdoin's second one-goal win in two days as the Polar Bears defeated Middlebury yesterday on the road and have won five games in a row.
Williams entered the contest with a two-game win streak, including a 10-7 NESCAC win over Bates yesterday.
"I thought we had a lot of possession and good opportunities in the overtimes, but we still need to learn how to win the close ones," said Eph head coach George McCormack.
"Our defense did a great job holding them scoreless for a long time after the third quarter and through three overtimes. The d-middies, long sticks and Dan Whittam in goal were all very good today."
"I was proud how we came back in the fourth quarter, goal by goal, and we were able to tie it up on a great goal by Kiesel to Grabowski," McCormack said. "I have to congratulate both teams on the effort displayed today."
The Ephs will next be in action on Saturday when they travel to Medford, MA to play Tufts in a 1:00 PM NESCAC contest.
