Coach P with Wheaton Coach Luis Reis after Bowdoin match

BRUNSWICK, ME, Sept. 19, 2009 -- It was one of those picture perfect fall days in Maine - breezy, crystal clear sky - and everyone knew that winter is not too far off. But on this day all that mattered was that there was a good college soccer game going on. The Bowdoin women were playing nationally-ranked Wheaton of Massachusetts and Wheaton had their hands full.

Not long before the game started, the Bowdoin men knocked off cross-state conference rival, Bates, 4-0 on the adjacent field, and now the Polar Bear women were trying to make their own statement by knocking off a perennial NCAA team. And they almost did.

"We could've been down, 3-0 at the half," said Wheaton coach, Luis Reis, after a goal by Jessica Stuart in the 82nd minute enabled the Lyons to escape with a 1-0 victory and remain undefeated at 7-0-0.

Wheaton had the wind at its back the first half, but it was Bowdoin who seemed to have more chances - a shot wide right in the 8th minute, one over the crossbar in the 41st, another wide left in 43rd and yet another over the bar just 44 seconds before intermission. Yet it was 0-0 when the halftime whistle blew.

Bowdoin had applied the pressure in the last five minutes of the first half, but the intensity did not carry over to the second and the Lyons picked up the play. Midway through the half it took a diving save by the keeper to prevent Wheaton from taking the lead. But the Lyons kept coming and Stuart scored with 8:31 to play when she eluded a tackle and shot from 15 yards out.

It was an entertaining game, well-played by both sides. There are worse ways to spend a fall afternoon. (Raking leaves would be one of them.)