The third-ranked Middlebury women's lacrosse team was knocked out of the NESCAC Tournament in the semifinal round by fifth-ranked Bowdoin Saturday afternoon at Trinity. The Polar Bears (15-2) jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never led by less than two goals in the game. Middlebury falls to 13-3 with the loss and will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Bowdoin will meet Trinity in Sunday's title game. The win snaps a 32-game losing streak for Bowdoin against the Panthers that dates back to 1987.

Bowdoin took control early when four different Polar Bears scored unassisted goals over a span of 6:19 to turn a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 Bowdoin lead 12:01 into the contest. Taylor Wilson, who scored the game's first goal 1:40 after the opening draw, started the 4-0 run at the 24:18 mark. Middlebury's Bridget Instrum ended the Polar Bear rally with her second goal with 17:35 on the clock and the Panthers scored two of the next three to make the score, 6-4, with 10:51 left before the break.

Bowdoin scored back-to-back tallies, including the second goal by Emma Beecher for her second of five points in the contest with 8:07 remaining in the first half, but Middlebury's Mary O'Connell netted the final goal of the first stanza with 5:28 left to account for an 8-5 Bowdoin lead at the intermission.

In the second half, the teams traded goals early before Bowdoin used a 5-0 run to the put the game out of reach. Megan O'Connor scored two of the five and Middlebury was penalized with yellow cards, as three of the five goals came while Middlebury was a player down. The Panthers scored twice in the final 6:28, but Middlebury was able to get off just four shots in the final eight minutes of the game.

O'Connor led all goal scorers with four, while Wilson finished with three goals and one assist, and Beecher tallied her game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Bowdoin's Lindsay Picard was solid all around with two scores, one assist, four draw controls, and two caused turnovers, while Wilson also notched two ground balls, four draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers. Isabel Sippel made 11 saves to earn the win.

Instrum paced Middlebury offensively with three goals, while Laurel Pascal notched two ground balls, four draw controls and a game-high four caused turnovers. Three different Panther goalies combined to make just four saves.