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BRUNSWICK — Five straight losses to end the regular season did little to hurt the Bowdoin College field hockey team’s confidence that it would be included in the NCAA tournament. Or that it could do some damage once it got there.

“We prepared so much over the past few weeks, knowing that we were going to get this chance,” sophomore back and Harpswell resident Ella Davies said. “We were so confident that we were going to be here this weekend, and we wanted to come out strong.”

It’d be hard to come up with a more emphatic opening. Emily Ferguson, a junior, recorded a hat trick, and Bowdoin routed Scranton, 7-0, in the first round of the Division III tournament Wednesday night at Ryan Field.

Bowdoin will head to Babson College for a second-round game on Saturday.

The Polar Bears (10-7) are ranked 14th in the country, while Scranton (17-4) was 36th, a reflection of Bowdoin’s tough New England Small College Athletic Conference schedule.

The battle-tested Polar Bears dominated in all facets Wednesday, scoring on five of 10 corners and holding Scranton without a shot until late in the third quarter.

“It was terrific,” coach Nicky Pearson said. “We did a good job of controlling the ball and controlling the game for, I’d say 70% of it. … To create so much offense, I was really happy with the way the team did that.”

Bowdoin started the season 5-0 but dropped its last four regular-season games and then lost in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. Even so, there were no panic alarms going off as the Polar Bears got ready for the NCAA tournament.

“We talked a lot about how the postseason is a completely new season. Anything can happen,” Ferguson said. “We wanted to have a fresh start and be like, ‘We are contenders, we deserve to be here.'”

Bowdoin broke through in the second quarter with three goals, all on corners. Davies scored the first, knocking in a feed from Ferguson by the left post. Ferguson got the next two, first after a Charlotte Crawford pass went off Davies’ stick, and the second after a Davies shot was blocked, and Ferguson scored with an off-balance shot off the carom.

Mackay Bommer and Ferguson added goals in the third quarter. Hannah Balmelli tallied two goals in the fourth — again off corners, a point of emphasis for Bowdoin coming in.

“It was really rewarding,” Ferguson said. “That was really exciting for us to be able to do that in a high-stakes environment like this.”

That was more than enough support. Scranton came in with the country’s eighth-ranked offense, but the Polar Bears outshot them 20-1 and didn’t allow an attempt on goal until 3:46 remained in the third.

“(The key was) being aggressive,” Davies said. “Body on body, giving a little push here and there, telling them that this is our circle, you’re not going to get a shot off.”

It was the first NCAA tournament win for Bowdoin since 2021.

“It’s super special to be here my senior year and do it with this group,” senior midfielder Andrea DiTeodoro said. “But we’re not done yet.”