The Bowdoin College men’s lacrosse team and the Colby women’s lacrosse team will compete in the NCAA Division III tournament, and will each will host games this weekend.

Colby (14-3) will host the winner of Endicott vs. Emmanuel (Mass.) in a second-round game at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bill Alfond Field in Waterville.

Bowdoin (13-3) will host Rivier (16-1) or Maine Maritime Academy (10-5) in a second-round game at noon Saturday at Whittier Field in Brunswick.

This is the fourth consecutive season the Mules —  ranked No. 4 in Division III in the Inside Lacrosse/IWLCA Coaches Poll —  reached the national tournament, and the 13th time since coach Karen Henning took over the program in 2008. The Mules last hosted the regional round of the tournament in 2023.

“It’s exciting, it’s nice to be able to host,” Henning said. “I know this week doesn’t look perfect (weather-wise). I like being on the road, but to (host) here is so good for us right now, and hopefully the community will be excited as well.”

Colby features a balanced squad, led by senior midfielder Julia Jardina (58 goals). Kat Munter, who has 37 ground balls and 58 draw controls, leads the defense.

Colby’s three losses have come at the hands of the top two ranked DIII teams in the nation, Tufts (17-1) and Middlebury (16-1), the three-time defending national champion.

“(The players) are champing at the bit, we want to play (immediately),” Henning said. “We’re excited to play, we’re excited that we get to continue to play, and keep growing and seeing where we can take (our) game moving forward.

Colby is one of the two Maine teams in the Division III women’s tournament. Husson University (7-7) will meet William Smith College (12-4) in a first-round game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lehrman Stadium in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Bowdoin men will host first tourney game since 2022

The Bowdoin men will have at least one more game at Whittier Field this season, but since its opponent won’t be decided until Wednesday night, coach Bill Mason said that the team is focused on itself.

“Today, tomorrow we’re really going to work to clean up some things from this weekend (in the loss to No. 5 Wesleyan) that we thought we could have done a better job of,” Mason said Monday. “Continue to develop our players and use this opportunity to keep working some of our second team, things like that. These days are focused on us anyway.”

Mason will watch Rivier and Maine Maritime play to help finalize a scouting report. Amherst (10-5) and Endicott (15-3) are Saturday’s second game of the afternoon, set for 3 p.m.

Bowdoin last hosted an NCAA tournament game in 2022, Mason’s first season. Last year, Bowdoin reached the semifinals for the first time in program history.

“Experience is everything, and those guys, they’ve played on the biggest stages,” Mason said. “All of our seniors played in the Final Four last year and know what it’s like to be close to punching a ticket to the national championship, which is every kid’s dream.”

This year the Polar Bears, ranked sixth in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, have familiarized themselves with the intense postseason atmosphere; their last three games have been decided by one goal. Two of those games, the regular-season finale against No. 1 Tufts and the NESCAC quarterfinal against Hamilton, were decided in overtime.

Mason said the team’s in-game resiliency will help the Polar Bears’ postseason push, even if rain is expected over the weekend.

“We just refer to it as polar bear weather,” Mason said.

Bowdoin’s scoring offense (14.75 goals/game) and defense (8.88 goals/game) are both the second-best in the NESCAC. Patrick Fitzgerald leads the conference with 65 goals and Jed Hoggard was named the defensive player of the year.