NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Connecticut College women's lacrosse team fell to Bowdoin 15-10 on Saturday afternoon at Silfen Field in the final home game of the regular season for the Camels. 

The Polar Bears were led by Sophia Sudano and Fiona Bundy who combined for seven goals. With the victory, Bowdoin clinched a berth in the NESCAC tournament as the eighth seed. 

After falling behind in the first half, the Camels matched the Polar Bears step-for-step in the second half, but the valiant comeback bid came up short. First year Campbell Johnston (Duxbury, Mass.) and senior Emily Yorns (Longmeadow, Mass.) each recorded a hat trick. With the defeat, Conn is now eliminated from postseason contention. 

The Polar Bears started strong throughout the first 30 minutes of gameplay. Sudano got the visitors on the scoreboard first, but Kate Coughlin (Reading, Mass.) responded with a goal of her own to knot the game at 1-1 midway through the opening frame. Bowdoin attacker Peyton Mulhern helped spark a rally for the Polar Bears, assisting on two of the next three goals to wrap up the first quarter with a 4-1 lead. Despite the deficit, Camels goaltender Violette Nidds (Ridgewood, N.J.) was fantastic in the period, stopping seven shots.

The visitors carried their momentum into the second, with Bundy and Colleen McAloon finding the back within the first three minutes of the quarter. Conn finally stopped the scoring spree when Johnston single handedly tallied two goals within a span of 90 seconds to cut the lead to 6-3. But Bowdoin retaliated with another four-goal streak to balloon the advantage to 10-3 heading into the halftime break. 

Conn came out strong out of the intermission. After forcing a turnover, defender Abigail Gleeson-Feldman (Nanuet, N.Y.) raced downfield and delivered a perfect pass to Yorns, who found the back of the net for the Camels' fourth goal of the game. For the remainder of the quarter, the two teams traded goals as Bowdoin would retain a six goal advantage, leading 12-6 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Following a score by Sudano to kick off the final stanza, the Camels showed their grit as they have all season long. With a player disadvantage due to a yellow card, Conn scored back-to-back goals off the sticks of Emma Ognibene (New Canaan, Conn.) and Yorns to cut into the lead. After Bundy stopped the run for the Polar Bears, the Camels responded with two more tallies from Johnston and Yorns with just over three minutes left to play. Facing a five goal deficit, the hosts pushed the tempo, but ran out of time to complete the comeback bid, ultimately falling 15-10 to wrap up their home slate of games.

Nidds finished with 11 saves for the Camels. Goaltender Sophie Brett earned the victory, stopping four shots for the visitors. Gleeson-Feldman put together a well-rounded game. In addition to her assist, the senior recorded a game-high four ground balls and a career-high six caused turnovers.

Bowdoin (6-8 overall, 3-6 NESCAC) will play Tufts to conclude the regular season before competing in the first round of the NESCAC tournament next weekend. 

Connecticut College (5-8 overall, 1-8 NESCAC) will wrap up its 2023 campaign on the road against Wesleyan on Wednesday, April 26.