Men's Final Four team previews

Bowdoin College is located in Brunswick, Maine, along the New England coastline approximately 25 miles northeast of Portland. A prestigious and comprehensive private liberal arts institution, the college offers 33 majors and 4 additional minors. Named for former Massachusetts governor James Bowdoin II, the college was chartered by the General Court of Massachusetts in 1794 as the District of Maine was still part of the Commonwealth. Classes began in 1802 with eight students. Bowdoin was a men's college until 1971, when the school admitted its first female students. Total current enrollment is 1,762.

James Caton, the SID at Bowdoin College, has also prepared a Bowdoin preview.

Final Four rookies
They're a first time competitor at this stage, and they've booked their place to the surprise of a few. They're favorites to play in the championship, and yet they've defied some odds to get to this point. Bowdoin's soccer history is rich, yet pales in comparison to fellow Final Four competitors, particularly Messiah and UW-Oshkosh. The reason: wallowing in a conference of the best of the best. The New England Small College Athletic Conference, from year to year, produces one good team after another, some achieving greatness. One thinks back just three years to Middlebury's national championship, where they dealt a mighty Trinity the deadly blow in penalties. One can also reference the typically fantastic - sometimes underachieving, sometimes overhyped - Williams side, in particular the national champion side of 1995. Since its inception as a true intercollegiate conference in 2000, Bowdoin has won the regular season title just twice, once in 2002 and this campaign. They still have never succeeded in winning the championship tournament, and still have never landed an automatic bid from their conference.

The good old days
In 1997, Bowdoin landed themselves in the national tournament for the first time in history, and were awarded the top seed in their side of the bracket, but capitulated in the sectional semifinals, losing to future conference competitor Amherst 1-0. A year later, and they were competing in the national tournament again, only this time, their tenure there expired a round shorter, losing 2-0 to New England stalwarts, Williams. But it would be a five year purgatory that Bowdoin would have to endure until their return to the national tournament, and this campaign was much shorter as they lost in the first round to NEWMAC foe Wheaton (Mass.) 1-0. The subsequent wait would be even more exhausting, as Bowdoin's status among New England's elite experienced a drop-off in the wake of Williams, Middlebury, and Amherst. The draught ensued for six years. Then, in 2009 under head coach Fran O'Leary, Bowdoin earned an at-large bid to the tournament following a 10-2-2 regular season finish. Unfortunately, their national tournament campaign was no different than that of 2003, and Bowdoin fell victim to a tough Plattsburgh State side in penalties. 2010 would be a completely different story.

This season
Bowdoin began this 2010 campaign in bleak fashion, winning just one out of their first four, and that win coming against a poor Husson side who claimed just three victories all season. In their first match, they played Amherst to a scoreless draw - it wouldn't be the last time this season - and then drew with a weak Bates squad. In their fourth match, they fell 2-0 to No. 23 Middlebury, and it seemed as though this campaign would be one for the memory book - but wasn't. Bowdoin immediately reversed fate, resurrecting their season with a 4-0 win against NESCAC opponent Colby. From their, Bowdoin put conference opponents Connecticut College and Wesleyan to the sword on either side of wins against St. Josephs and an excellent Babson side.

And this is where their season found its turning point. On October 16, Bowdoin traveled to No. 8 Williams to engage in a match where they would almost certainly leave in utter dejection, for Williams was undefeated, and was coming off a season that saw them reach the Final Four. In the match, Bowdoin may have shocked themselves, but more importantly, they shocked the nation, smashing two past Williams in three minutes late on to pull off a major stunner. With that win, Bowdoin finally found themselves in the top 25 rankings, and proceeded to hammer Southern Maine, Colby Sawyer, and Tufts to finish out their season 11-1-2.

With Middlebury and Williams dropping vital points late in the season, Bowdoin found themselves as regular season champions of arguably one of the nation's toughest conference. As the top seed in the NESCAC tournament, Bowdoin bagged five goals in a 5-2 route of Bates in the quarter finals, then shattered Wesleyan's hopes of an upset with a 2-1 win in the semifinals. But it was in the championship that Bowdoin found their toughest enemy: Middlebury. Unlike the first encounter, Middlebury did not make short work of Bowdoin, but Bowdoin was not able to reverse the ultimate result, as they were eventual losers in penalties.

Unable to keep one of the nation's best out of action, the NCAA awarded Bowdoin with not only a bid, but a first round bye as well, a measure that may have proven vital in their run to the Final Four. Fortunately, or unfortunately for the New England quarter of the bracket, the national tournament turned out to be a glorified NESCAC tournament with Amherst, Bowdoin, and Middlebury all cleaning house in their regional tournaments. Only an overrated Williams missed out to Babson. Bowdoin knowing their enemies, used this to their advantage. But there was a problem: the only team in the Sweet 16 they had defeated was Babson, and in order to play them, a win against Amherst had to come first. And of course, Babson had to upend Middlebury. In keeping with the earlier trends of the season, Bowdoin and Amherst played as equals, and penalties were the decider. Bowdoin squeaked by to fight again, of course against third-time foe Middlebury.

Third time's a charm, as the old adage goes, and this rang true for Bowdoin in their Elite 8 match. Bowdoin succumbed to an early second half goal, but forward Eddie Jones responded with just eight minutes on the clock, hitting home the equalizer and, once again, sending the match into extra time. Bowdoin, however, would not be content with a penalty shootout, and with just seconds left in the first half of extra time, freshman Zach Danssaert scored a brilliant solo goal to crush the hearts of the Panthers, and send his team to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Here is that last second goal, captured by the Bowdoin athletic department.

Top performers
Freshman Zach Danssaert has truly been a success for Bowdoin, with the forward taking his tally to five on the season, while junior Eddie Jones (7), senior Tim Pryor (7), sophomore Michael Gale (7), and senior Ben Denton-Schneider (6) complete a very dangerous attack for Bowdoin. Although their potency in attack has been a true and prevalent factor behind the Bowdoin's historic season, their defense has been just as efficient. Out of 20 matches played by the Polar Bears, their miserly defense, led by senior goalkeeper Dan Hicks, and defenders junior Sean Bishop, senior Daniel Chaffetz, junior Macgill Eldredge, and freshman Ben Brewster have allowed just 10 goals. Simply astounding for a team who competes against the nation's best week in and week out. Both will need to be in harmony if Bowdoin is to advance past Lynchburg, and play in the national championship for the first time ever.

Lynchburg preview | UW-Oshkosh preview | Messiah preview

By D3soccer.com writer James Derrick