BRUNSWICK — Despite a 15-14 double-overtime loss to No. 1 Tufts in the regular-season finale Wednesday, the No. 6 Bowdoin men’s lacrosse team walked off the field feeling confident it can compete with anyone.

Was Bowdoin (12-2, 8-2 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference) disappointed that Tufts (15-0, 10-0) needed just 17 seconds in the second overtime to score the game-winning goal? Of course.

Were the Polar Bears dismayed that they were held scoreless for the final 17:41 of the game and had a goal with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation called off for a crease violation? Sure.

Still, Bowdoin looked at the big picture ahead of the NESCAC playoffs.

“Double overtime with the best team in the nation, I mean, I think today what I take away is we are the best team in the nation,” senior defensemen Jed Hoggard said. “We made some mistakes that we usually don’t make, and this team is young and hasn’t really been in that scenario yet. That’s the biggest game we’ve ever played this season, and that’s the biggest game I’ve ever played in my life. And I think it just proves that next time, we’re gonna have a little bit more experience, we’re gonna handle it, and it’s gonna be great.”

Had Bowdoin won, it would have claimed the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the upcoming NESCAC tournament. Instead, the Bears earned the No. 2 seed and will host Hamilton in a quarterfinal Saturday.

Bowdoin is no stranger to making postseason runs. Last season, it went 16-4 and reached the NCAA semifinals for the first time. The team entered this season needing to replace five all-Americans, 16 seniors and 672 career points.

“You never know until you get into it, and injuries are always going to be a thing and stuff like that, but I think early on, we saw how amazing our seniors are and what a senior leadership group can do to lift all tides and lift all boats,” fourth-year coach Bill Mason said. “Our seniors, I just saw early on, it’s a really special group.”

Mason said four seniors — Hoggard, goalie Robert Hobbs, attackers Patrick Fitzgerald and Jason Lach — are the team’s backbone. They carried the load on Wednesday night, like they have all season.

Hobbs (15 saves against Tufts) has also enjoyed a standout season, with a .565 save percentage and an 8.38 goals-against average. Hoggard, a first-team all-American, leads the team in ground balls (60) and caused turnovers (26). He is the spark plug of the NESCAC’s top scoring defense. Bowdoin also leads the nation in clearing percentage.

Fitzgerald and Lach are two of the most prolific scorers in program history. Lach has a program-best 192 career goals. Fitzgerald, who leads the NESCAC with 59 goals this season after missing the majority of 2024 because of a torn ACL, isn’t far behind at 182 after Wednesday’s seven-goal performance.

The pair are complemented by sophomores Casey Ryan (one goal, four assists vs. Tufts), Chris Berry (33 total points) and Huck Trafton (27 total points), as well as a talented group of newcomers (Cormac Walsh, Brooks Kitchel, Luke Harrington).

“We have a program that our expectation is to be in these games, it’s to win these games, and it’s to win the national championship,” Mason said. “It doesn’t take long, it’s the work. If you come to practice, you’d see every single day. Being in Maine, we all know it hasn’t been a pretty spring season, it’s been a pretty rough one, so these guys are weathered, and they’ve just been going after it every day.”

If Bowdoin and Tufts win their next two games, a rematch would be on May 4, with the winner claiming the NESCAC crown in Medford, Massachusetts. Both teams are also well-positioned to secure berths in the NCAA tournament.

“That felt like a really big moment,” Fitzgerald said. “Felt like a championship game in a lot of ways, and that’s our goal, to win a championship. So I think we’re ready for that, and if we can take care of business on Saturday (against Hamilton), hopefully play for the semis and championship. I think that playing a really good team (in Tufts), knowing that there’s no one we can’t hang with, we’re in a good spot. I think we have a lot of lot of trust in ourselves and think we can do well.”