The University of New England was the Bobcats' first victim on Sept. 10. Bates won handily, 5-0. First-year forward Kate O'Malley (Deep Haven, Minn.) notched a hat trick in her first collegiate game, scoring the first two goals on assists from classmate Jolene Thurston (Post Mills, Vt.). Last year's assist leader, sophomore forward Colleen McCrave (Walpole, Mass.) assisted on O'Malley's third goal and scored one herself. Junior halfback Lindsay Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) rounded out the goal scoring, while first-year fullback Kelly Heath (Albuquerque, N.M.) had an assist on McCrave's goal. In net, sophomore Suzie Arnold (Falmouth, Mass.) and senior ShannonWalker (Weston, Mass.) each played a half. Arnold had six saves; Walker had five.
Against Norwich Sept. 13, the Bobcats' shutout streak was snapped quickly, just 38 seconds into the game. Bates recovered quickly, however, and went on to take the 5-2 decision. Anderson answered ten minutes later on a feed from Heath to tie the game at one. Norwich jumped on top at the 22 minute mark before Thurston tied it again six minutes before halftime on a pass from senior fullback Dana Maki (Bristol, Vt.). The Bobcats went on to dominate the second half, scoring three unanswered goals. Senior co-captain Breck Smith (Kennebunkport, Maine) scored the go-ahead goal on an assist from O'Malley ten minutes into the second frame, followed by a pair of goals four minutes apart from O'Malley to ice the game, assisted by Thurston and Heath. Overall, Bates outshot the Cadets, 38-12. Arnold stopped nine of 11 shots on goal for the win.
The weekend ended Sept. 14 against Middlebury. The Panthers struck first at the 12:14 mark, but first-year fullback Kara Bristow (Albuquerque, N.M) answered nine minutes later on an unassisted goal. O'Malley notched her sixth goal of the week at 31:50 to put the Bobcats up for good. Thurston added the Bobcats' third goal on a pass from McCrave in the second half, and Walker stopped all five shots goal in the second half to preserve the win. Arnold was also effective, stopping seven shots in the first half.
For her six goals and one assist on the week, O'Malley earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors.
With about 25 minutes left in a scoreless tie between the Bobcats and Norwich University in the torrential downpour Sept. 13, senior fullback Peter Rossi received his second yellow card of the game on a debatable call. The team played the rest of the contest a man down, but was able to break the deadlock with 18 minutes to go when sophomore Chad LaFauci (North Andover, Mass.) was pulled down from behind going in on net, earning him a penalty shot. LaFauci converted to the left corner for his first collegiate goal. First-year forward Justin Wang (North Andover, Mass.) slammed home a beautifully threaded pass from senior back Justin Weisser (New Hope, Pa.) at the 78 minute mark to put the game away. Senior goalkeeper Mike Marsh (Manchester, Conn.) made five saves to earn the shutout.
In the annual Reynolds Cup game with Middlebury on Sept. 14, the Bobcats played most of the contest in their end of the field against the nationally-ranked Panthers, falling 1-0. The Bobcats managed just two shots on goal, both of which were thwarted by outstanding saves. Marsh stopped five of the six shots he faced. Middlebury's lone goal came at the 35 minute mark, when a Panther forward made a fine move around the Bates defender and fired into the far corner, just out of Marsh's reach.
In an exciting game at Simmons Sept. 11, the Bobcats and Thunderbolts were scoreless with 18 minutes remaining. Simmons sneaked a goal past sophomore goalkeeper Wendy Zimmerman (Denver, Colo.) at that point, but the Bobcats responded. With time running out in the last two minutes of the contest, Bates sophomore forward Renee Marchant (Arlington, Mass.) took a pass from classmate Amanda Schall and put it home to send the game to overtime. Six minutes into the sudden death period, Schall found Marchant again with the game winner. Zimmerman finished with nine saves on the day.
Middlebury came to Lewiston on Sept. 14 trying to avenge a loss to the Bobcats the previous year. The Panthers were able to use a size and speed advantage over Bates to win, 4-0, scoring two goals in each half. The Bobcats managed just one shot on goal for the entire game. Zimmerman (seven saves) and classmate 'Cil Bloomfield (Exeter, N.H.) (six saves) split time in goal.
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