10/10/07

Field hockey suffers setback at Bowdoin

BRUNSWICK -- The University of Maine at Farmington field hockey team fell victim to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll's top-ranked team, Bowdoin College, 5-0 on Wednesday at Howard F. Ryan Field.

The Beavers dropped to 6-4 and are scheduled to host Wheelock on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Polar Bears (10-0) have won 26 consecutive home games dating back to October of 2004 -- the longest home-field winning streak in the nation.

Although the Polar Bears outshot Farmington 23-1 in the opening stanza, the hosts could not find the back of the cage until the 16th minute, when a strike from the top of the box by Julia King was redirected by Kristen Veiga on the doorstep to give Bowdoin a 1-0 advantage.

Ingrid Oelschlager took over from there, scoring three times in a 13:07 span to close the first period. Her first tally came off of a nice feed from Hillary Hoffman at 19:39. Her second goal was a stellar individual effort, as she carried the ball 30 yards down the left side of the field and beat UMF netminder Kaeleigh Barker (Chichester, NH) between the pads to make it 3-0 Polar Bears. Oelschlager closed out the half with another goal off a pass from Kate Gormley just 2:14 before the break. Madeleine McQueeney closed out the scoring with a second-half score for Bowdoin.

Barker was peppered with shots and finished with 18 saves overall. Beaver defender Renee Trafton (Corinth, ME) prevented further damage with three defensive saves on the doorstep for UMaine-Farmington.

Emileigh Mercer stopped three shots in net before giving way to Emily Neilson, who was not challenged over the final 11 minutes.

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