NEW LONDON, Conn.  – The Connecticut College men's lacrosse team came up on the short end of a 19-11 final against No. 6 Bowdoin College on Saturday afternoon at Silfen Field.

Casey Ryan led the Polar Bears with six goals and two assists while Will Byrne and Jason Lach each recorded a hat trick. Robert Hobbs made 15 saves in the cage to keep the Camels at bay.

Liam Horkan (Malden, Mass.) paced Conn with a career-high six goals while JJ Ford (Clinton, Conn.) contributed three. Aidan McAvoy (Charlotte, N.C.) was the catalyst on the offensive end, finishing with a game-high five assists.

Bowdoin jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed in the contest. Conn got on the scoreboard with 26 seconds left in the period as McAvoy connected with Horkan for the first of four times on the afternoon.

The combo of McAvoy and Horkan paid dividends twice in the opening 2:15 of the second quarter as Conn pulled to within 5-3. Later in the period, McAvoy fed Isaiah Kozub (Wilbraham, Mass.) to make it a 7-4 game, and moments later Ryan Breheny (Bridgewater, Mass.) capped a solo clear with a goal to cut the deficit to two.

The Polar Bears snuck in the final goal of the half with six seconds remaining to lead 8-5 at the break.

Conn opened the second-half scoring with a man-up tally off the stick of Ford, but Beau Burns won the ensuing face-off and marched in for an unassisted score to keep the Bowdoin lead at three.

McAvoy and Horkan hooked up for the final time at the 8:47 mark of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 10-7. However, the Polar Bears ripped off four straight goals—three of which came from Ryan—to open up a big lead.

Bowdoin scored the first five goals of the fourth quarter to take its biggest lead at 19-8. Horkan added his final tally with 4:32 left in the game, and Ford chipped in a pair of goals in the final 2:33.

Bowdoin owned a 56-42 edge in total shots and won 19 of 34 face-offs. Burns led the Polar Bears with 10 ground balls and also finished with a goal and an assist.

Conn goalie Will Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) recorded 16 saves in the setback. Aidan Gaudet (Cheshire, Conn.) went 15-for-30 at the face-off spot and grabbed a game-high 11 ground balls while causing three turnovers.

Conn (1-3 overall, 0-3 NESCAC) will next play at Middlebury College on Saturday, March 23 at 1:00 p.m.