BRUNSWICK, Maine – Bowdoin first-year Ely Spencer scored twice to lead the Polar Bear men’s soccer team to a 2-1 win over 19th-ranked Tufts on Tuesday afternoon at Pickard Field.
The Polar Bears move to 8-3-4 (4-3-3 NESCAC) and improve to 5-1-3 in their last nine outings. The Jumbos see their seven-game unbeaten streak come to an end as they drop to 9-4-2 (6-2-2 NESCAC). The NESCAC regular season closes on Wednesday afternoon and the teams will learn their pairings for the conference tournament following the conclusion of tomorrow’s matches.
Tufts controlled most of the opening half and had the best early chance to score when a flurry in front saw a shot deflect off of Bowdoin netminder Noah Safian to Daniel Sullivan in the center of the penalty area. His shot slipped past Safian but was cleared off the line by Bowdoin defender Michael Eppler to keep the game scoreless.
Bowdoin broke through with just a minute remaining in the opening half as Ben Ginzberg collected a loose ball and lofted a pass to Spencer on the left side of the box. Spencer ripped a perfectly-placed curving shot to the top-right corner of the goal at 1:08, giving the Polar Bears a 1-0 advantage at intermission.
The Jumbos continued to pepper the Bowdoin net in the second half, taking 13 shots in all, but couldn’t find the net as Safian stopped seven shots while Eppler and Will Herman both cleared shots off the end line to keep the one-goal advantage.
Spencer doubled Bowdoin’s lead with just 5:03 to go as Tufts was pushing upfield for the equalizer. Spencer stole the ball from the last Jumbo defender and came in one-on-one against goaltender Scott Greenwood. Greenwood got a piece of Spencer’s low shot, but the ball trickled over the goal line to make it 2-0.
Tufts got one back in the closing seconds as a cross from Kevin Halliday was headed home by Christian Zazzali with just 11 seconds remaining.
Safian stopped ten shots in net for Bowdoin while Greewood made one save in net for Tufts.
The Jumbos held a 20-5 advantage in shots and 5-2 edge in corner kicks.