Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Sophomore Austin Downing (Scarborough, Maine) recorded a hat trick and the Bowdoin College Polar Bears scored five goals in the second half to break open a 1-0 game and down the University of Southern Maine Huskies 6-0 in a non-conference men's soccer match Monday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
Earning its fourth consecutive victory and fourth straight win by shut out, Bowdoin College improves its record to 6-3 overall. The second consecutive loss drops Southern Maine's record to 2-9-2.
Despite controlling the play and owning a 9-1 advantage in shots, Bowdoin found itself deadlocked in a 0-0 draw with the Huskies until late in the first half. With just 16 seconds until halftime, Polar Bear senior Thomas Henshall (Madison, N.J./Newark Academy) ran onto a deflected ball in the box and touched the ball to the far post to give his team a 1-0 advantage heading into the intermission.
Ten minutes into the second half, Downing took over for the Polar Bears sealing the victory scoring three goals in a five-minute span. Downing's first goal of the game and first goal of the season came in the 56th minute off of an assist from Andrew Jones. Two minutes later, Downing made it 3-0 in favor of the Polar Bears this time converting a feed from Henshall in the 58th minute. Downing completed the hat trick in the 60th minute flicking the ball into the net settling a ball from freshman Wilson MacMillan (Fairbault, Minn./Hyde School).
With a 4-0 lead in hand, Bowdoin tacked on two more goals for the 6-0 final. Freshman Ben Ginzberg (New York, N.Y./Dalton School) and sophomore Patrick Kearon (Royersford, Pa./Hill School) each tallied their first goal of the season in the 70th and 85th minutes respectively.
Bowdoin Stevie Van Siclen (Carlisle, Mass./The Rivers School) earned the win. Van Siclen did not make a save while playing 77:37. Van Siclen gave way to senior Ian McNamara (Cincinatti, Ohio/Seven Hills School) who closed out the final 12:23 without facing a shot. Southern Maine sophomore Elijah Leverett (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely) made eight saves in the loss.
Southern Maine returns to action at Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday (1:00 p.m.). Bowdoin travels Hamilton on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) for its next contest.
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