Waterville, Maine - A beautiful Maine spring day was celebrated with a sweet win over Bowdoin. The Mules had seven different goal scorers, five players out due to COVID, and a deep desire to stick it to Bowdoin. Colby's showing on Saturday is a testament to their depth and ability to adapt through a long week of games, practice, and a COVID outbreak.
Energy was high from both teams and the fan sections, recognizing that this could be their final game of the 2022 season. First year
Julia Jardina had a stellar game with a hat trick in the first quarter and two more goals in the game to bring her total to five. As a first year, Jardina has made such an impact on the team with her ability to drive from the anywhere on the arc. She will continue to be a pivotal piece of the Colby offense for the next three years. Junior attacker
Gianna Bruno was face-guarded for the first half of the game, making her versatile style of play inaccessible to the Mules. As frustrating as this was for Bruno as an individual player, often involved in scoring plays, and the team who looks to her from feeds below the goal line, the Mules were able to score 15 goals to Bowdoin's eight at the end of the first half.
Bowdoin's defense is notoriously aggressive and allows their opponent to draw many fouls meaning Colby had multiple free-position shots. The Mules made seven out of nine of their free-position opportunities, contributing greatly to their success on the field. Senior
Eliza Dean had the game high draw controls, with eleven total, setting her team up for success in the attacking end. With seven goal scorers and 20 goals, many women had hat tricks for the day. Jardina scored five,
Annie Eddy and
Elizabeth Hennessey scored four each, and
Ainsley Dion scored 3. Impressively, despite being face-guarded in the first half and closely marked in the second Bruno was able to score a goal.
The Mules leave for Middlebury next Friday and will play Tufts on Saturday at 3:00pm. If they win on Saturday, they will play on Sunday against the other finalist for the NESCAC Championship. As the third ranked team in the country the Mules will hope for a bid into the NCAA tournament if it is not clinched on Sunday with a win. The trophy is in sight for the Mules, and not even COVID can set these young women back, taking positive cases in stride and working as a team to bring home the win for their program.
