No. 59 women’s lacrosse took a huge stride in the NESCAC conference last weekend with a win against No. 104 Bowdoin College and No. 95 Hamilton College on April 1 and April 4. These two games put them at a NESCAC record of 2-5 and an overall record of 6-6.
The Bobcats beat the Bowdoin Polar Bears 13-12 in overtime on Bowdoin’s home turf, Whittier Field. This match secured the Bobcats’ first conference win and a variety of other high achieving moments like career 100 career points and 200 draw controls for a midfielder.
Going into the game, the Bobcats had a mentality of “not again,” as they had previously not beaten a NESCAC team yet this season.
“We had this extra confidence of everyone supporting each other because nobody wanted to lose again,” Laci Raveis ‘27 explained. The team had not defeated Bowdoin since 2016.
Prior to this conference match, women’s lacrosse scrimmaged the Polar Bears in February and beat them. “We now had this feeling that we had the ability to beat them,” Raveis said.
The Bobcats started hot, reflecting that confidence, with Lauren Wong ‘26 coming out with two goals in the first two minutes. Caroline Keating ‘26, Raveis, and Emma Lavallee ‘29 locked in the lead with their goals, ending the first quarter 6-3.
“I was playing more up top so I was able to get more of those shooting space calls, which was really awesome because then I was able to convert on the two shooting space possessions,” Raveis said. Similarly, they had scouted their defense prior to the game and noticed that the backside was always open.
“What we were really focusing on was moving the ball really quickly, and we had done that a couple of times in the first possession, and then I just ended up being the person on the back side who had the open lane to the net. But we were all working together to really find it,” Raveis, who ended the game with a hat trick, said.
Bowdoin, who also had yet to have a conference win, continued to fight, outscoring the Bobcats in the second quarter 3-2. But Bates kept the momentum going by halftime, making the score 8-6. Wong and Raveis scored again to fend off the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin continued to fight back with Grace Harvey ‘27 notching two goals for the Polar Bears in the third quarter. Grace Cassin ‘27 and Sarah Stavrovich ‘28 for the Bobcats kept the score neck and neck, ending the third quarter 10-10.
In the fourth quarter, Lucy Taylor ‘27, assisted by Raveis, allowed the Bobcats to take the lead 11-10. Then the Polar Bears scored two unanswered goals, until Wong, assisted by Raveis, sent the game into overtime with the tying goal. Bates and Bowdoin were tied 12-12.
Caroline Keating ‘26 won the draw and the Bobcats were ready to go to sudden death. The Bobcats struggled to get a shot off. They lost possession only to make a huge defensive stop followed by a time out called by Head Coach Princess Zabel.
“She drew out a play for us, and honestly, I felt really calm in the moment,” said Wong. “I was like, ‘okay, we’re gonna win this.’ I feel like the whole time I knew, but she drew out a play where I had the ball on the right crease and there was a double cut. It ended up working out.”
Wong drove, then passed to Cassin who then fed it back to Wong for a give and go. Wong got the Bobcats an exhilarating goal finishing the game 13-12. This secured the Bobcats first NESCAC win.
“I was so shocked after it went in. I was like, we just did that,” Wong said.
Following this win on April 1, the Bobcats took on Hamilton on April 4 at home for Senior Day. The stands at Garcelon were packed with friends, family, and alumni, ready to cheer on the Bobcats.
“Honestly, I was so sappy, all the seniors got letters from every single person on the team and I was trying not to read them before the game but I read some and I already started crying. It was such a special moment,” Wong said.
Wong, who is currently a senior, later went on to express that “these 11 seniors are so special and have put so much into this program, from the culture to the performance on the field, the senior class was pivotal in it all.”
“We were like, we all love each other. We’re gonna just win this,” Wong said. And they sure did.
Eight different Bobcats contributed to this win. The first quarter started out close with goals by Raveis, Wong, and Frankie Franz ‘26, ending the first at 4-4.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Raveis scored two goals two minutes apart for a total of three goals. After those two shots, Bates was on fire with Lucy Taylor ‘27 coming up to take another shot by minute 5:28. This put the Bobcats up 7-4 towards the end of the second quarter.
But Hamilton began to fight back. They had two goals quickly after Taylor’s shot, cutting the deficit to 7-6. They were still no match for the Bobcats as Cassin and Stavrovich tallied goals, making the final score for the second quarter 9-6.
Heading straight into the third quarter, Hamilton turned on the jets and got two goals in the first four minutes, with no follow up by Bates in between. Slowly after those four minutes Stavrovich came to the rescue with another goal and Haley Wines ‘28 had her first goal of the game. The Continentals took two more shots making the score 11-11.
With 14 seconds left on the clock, Hamilton’s goalie Eliza Schwarz fouled Stavrovich, earning her a yellow card. Keating earned the free position and made a shot straight into an empty net to save the day, securing the team’s second win of the week and their second NESCAC Conference win.
The Bobcats really locked in and took a huge leap in their conference performance. Their Senior day was celebratory because of not only their win, but the camaraderie of the team. They all showed up and showed out for each other. Their “we over me” mentality which has been the team’s slogan this year, truly shined through their performance.
A win against Connecticut College on April 11 boosted the Bobcats’ conference record to 3-6.
These wins have marked career milestones for several of the seniors. The Hamilton game marked Wong’s 100 career points. Keating also earned her hundredth career ground ball at Tufts on April 8, and the game against Connecticut College on April 11 marked 200 draw controls for the midfielder.
After the Bobcats played Connecticut College their NESCAC Conference overall became 3-5 and 7-6 overall. Catch the Bobcats’ last home game against No. 30 Colby College on April 15 on Garcelon Field.
