BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's lacrosse team held off Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the 2018 NESCAC Championship on Saturday at Ryan Field.

The Polar Bears (12-4) advance to the NESCAC Semifinals next Saturday at Middlebury College, where they will face Amherst at 2:30 p.m. The Cardinals fall to 10-6 with the loss.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

• In both the first and second halves, Bowdoin jumped to sizeable leads before Wesleyan rallied back into contention.
• On the strength of a pair of early Hannah Hirschfeld goals, Bowdoin surged to a 5-1 lead midway through the opening period.
• Wesleyan closed the opening half on a 4-0 run, sparked by a pair of Abigail Horst '19 goals, to tie the contest at 5-5 at intermission.
• Katie Miller scored the first goal of the second half, just 16 seconds into the stanza, and Eliza Denious rolled off four goals in a nine-minute span to give the Polar Bears a commanding 11-6 lead with 16:21 to go.
• Wesleyan would not go away, thanks in great part to goaltender Allegra Grant '20, who made 10 second-half saves to keep her team in the match.
• The Cardinals held Bowdoin scoreless for the remainder of the game and began their comeback with a pair of Abby Manning '20 goals, trimming the lead to 11-8.
• Rylee White '21 buried a free-position shot with 13:14 left and Manning cut into the lead even further with a goal at 10:22, making it 11-10.
• The teams played a scoreless final ten minutes as Bowdoin's defense held strong, with Kayli Weiss making three big saves down the stretch, including a game-clinching stop on a shot by Wesleyan's Caitlin Wood '19 with less than 30 seconds to go.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Both goaltenders were outstanding as Weiss ended with 11 saves for Bowdoin and Grant made an incredible 18 stops for Wesleyan.
• Manning paced Wesleyan with four goals and an assist. The Cardinals got a pair of caused turnovers from Sara Bennett '18 and four draw controls from Caroline Sgaglione '19.
• Denious led Bowdoin with four goals while Miller and Hirschfeld ended with two. Kara Finnerty had a pair of assists for the Polar Bears.
• Paige Brown led Bowdoin defensively with three caused turnovers.
• Bowdoin owned a 39-25 edge in shots.

UP NEXT:

• Wesleyan awaits its NCAA Tournament fate when the selection show airs Sunday, May 6 at 10 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

 -- Recap courtesy of Bowdoin Athletic Communications --