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Sports
By BaoBao Nguyen
Staff Writer
November 8, 2024
After beating the top seed in the NESCAC playoffs, Tufts University (11–0–5; 7–0–3 NESCAC), 1-1 (4-3) in an overtime penalty shootout victory last weekend, the eighth-seeded men’s soccer team (7–4–5; 2–4–4 NESCAC) will advance to the NESCAC semifinals and face No. 2 Middlebury College (13–0–3; 7–0–3 NESCAC) tomorrow. This will be the Polar Bears’ first NESCAC semifinal appearance since 2017.
Although Bowdoin drew Tufts 2–2 during its last game of the regular season, Head Coach Scott Wiercinski explained the focus now was on learning from the regular season and building on it.
“Tuesday’s [October 29] game against Tufts was a good precursor for getting ready for Saturday. It was a good regular season, but I would stop short of great because we made a lot of mistakes that we paid for in different points,” Wiercinski said. “The takeaway is, hopefully we learned our lessons from those mistakes and have put them into use in the postseason. I’m really optimistic.”
In his 12th season and after recently reaching 100 wins as the coach, Wiercinski hopes to lead the team to its third NESCAC championship.
“Once you’re in the playoffs, it’s win or lose—you keep going or you’re done. It was really important for us to focus on the details of a good performance, because we knew that if we didn’t put the details together, it wouldn’t matter, and the game would not go our way,” Wiercinski said.
The Polar Bears went up 1–0 with only three minutes remaining in the first half when Adam Prince ’28 found the top-left corner of the goal off a cross into the box from Tyler Huck ’26.
Although Bowdoin was leading 1–0 out of the half, the Jumbos tied the score in the 48th minute. Despite conceding a goal, Bowdoin goalkeeper Alex Ainsworth ’26 remained confident in the team.
“It was a big blow to us, but we got the team together,” Ainsworth said. “I kept being confident and kept talking to the team and making sure everyone was on the same page.… We just couldn’t let them take momentum.”
Even though the score remained 1–1 at the end of regulation, the match was far from over. Needing a winner, the game went into two overtime periods and penalty kicks.
“They had a great run of period in the first overtime. The second overtime was in the middle a lot and not a whole lot of excitement happened. Anytime you play a good team, there’s going to be some volleys back and forth in momentum,” Wiercinski said. “I thought the guys did pretty well.”
Ainsworth, who ended the game with six saves and two crucial stops in penalties, expressed his gratitude for the team’s effort.
“I gotta shout out the back line. They were resilient. We conceded a goal, but they still were able to stay strong,” Ainsworth said. “I could talk up the entire team, but the midfielders, [Jack] Banks [‘27], Tyler [Huck ’26] and Keito [Ishibashi ’27], all played 110 minutes, which was a really big ask of them.”
After a scoreless overtime, the match solely relied on penalties to determine who would advance to the NESCAC semifinals.
Both the Polar Bears and the Jumbos converted their first three penalties. As Tufts took its fourth penalty, Ainsworth stepped up and saved Tufts’ attempt to give the Polar Bears the advantage. Unfortunately, the Tufts keeper saved an attempt from twelve yards out made by Carlton Steinberg ’24. Ainsworth made another save to give Bowdoin the advantage. It all came down to midfielder Keito Ishibashi ’27, as he drilled it into the back of the net and sent the team to the semifinals.
“I was very confident in myself to be able to convert it. I was just excited to have that opportunity and to be able to celebrate with the team afterwards was the best feeling in the world,” Ishibashi said. “It was amazing to be able to celebrate something and extend our season for another week, especially for our seniors.”
Ishibashi has four assists on the season and finished the game with one shot on goal. According to Ishibashi, the team environment has helped the squad thrive.
“Both of the coaches are really supportive and have been great this season. It’s been really positive, and I think it’s a very supportive environment,” Ishibashi said.
As the Polar Bears celebrate their win, they will play the top remaining seed, Middlebury College (11–0–5; 7–0–3 NESCAC), away tomorrow in hopes of both a NESCAC championship spot and an NCAA DIII tournament bid.
“The goal is to win a NESCAC and a national title and then get the opportunity to defend it. That would be awesome to be able to do,” Ishibashi said.
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