MIDDLEBURY — In a Saturday battle of top NCAA Division III college field hockey teams, visiting Bowdoin scored twice in a span of 1:29 during the final minutes to overtake Middlebury and win, 2-1.
The No. 1 Polar Bears, the defending NCAA champions, improved to 4-0. The Panthers, who entered the contest at No. 4, dropped to 4-1. They will visit Colby on Saturday.
Middlebury took the lead 3:07 into the action on Sept. 20. Bridget Instrum gathered a loose ball on the left just inside the 25-yard line. She worked her way toward the middle of the field, sending a hard, low pass to Catherine Fowler, who found the lower right corner of the Polar Bear cage.
Bowdoin’s best chance to even the score in the opening half came in the 15th minute. Adrienne O’Donnell broke in alone on Panther goalie Emily Knapp in transition, but Knapp came out to cut down the angle and denied O’Donnell’s shot from eight yards out.
The game remained 1-0 in favor of Middlebury as scoring chances in the second half were hard to come by. In the 58th minute, Bowdoin’s Rachel Kennedy nearly knotted the score as she took a shot from eight yards out on the right side, but Knapp made a diving save.
Following a Middlebury foul at 67:38 which resulted in a penalty stroke, Kennedy stepped up and sent her attempt into the right side of the cage, tying the score at 1-1. 
Bowdoin kept the pressure up in the offensive zone. Colleen Finnerty sent a ball to Kim Kahnweiler just inside the circle. Kahnweiler’s shot hit a Middlebury defender and deflected in for the game-winner.
Knapp finished with the two tough saves, while Bowdoin goalie Hannah Gartner stopped three shots. Penalty corners were even at 6-6, while Bowdoin earned an 8-6 edge in shots, 5-1 in the second half.