FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BATES FIELD HOCKEY EARNS TOP SEED IN ECAC NEW ENGLAND TOURNAMENT
GAME POSTPONED UNTIL THURSDAY

LEWISTON, Maine -- After finishing the regular season with an 11-3 record, the Bates College field hockey team has earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament. The Bobcats will play host to New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rivals Tufts University in the first round on Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. on Leahey Field. The game, originially scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, has been postponed due to inclement weather.

This is the second straight ECAC bid for the Bobcats and their second ever. Eleven wins this season is the most in a single year by a Bates field hockey team since 1982, when they finished 12-2-2 and placed second in the now-defunct Northeast Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. The Bobcats have outscored their opponents 37-14 this season, scoring at least two goals in a game in 10 out of 14 contests. After dropping their first two games, Bates went 11-1 the rest of the way, including Saturday's 2-1 come from-behind win over Colby.

"We are thrilled to have the home-field advantage in the tournament," said second-year head coach Wynn Hohlt. "Tufts gave us a great game earlier in the season, but we are playing very well right now. I think we will be tough to beat at home."

Offensively, the Bobcats are paced by sophomore Ginny Hurley of Revere, Mass., who leads the team with nine goals, five assists and 23 points, tripling her season output from a year ago. Hurley earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors Oct. 25 for her six-goal week that included a pair of hat tricks. Other top scorers for the Bobcats are first-year forwards Johie Farrar of West Paris, Maine, (nine goals, one assist, 19 points) and Julia Price of Mansfield, Mass. (six goals, five assists, 17 points), both of whom have doubled Hurley's team-leading scoring total from a year ago.

The Bobcats' veteran defense is led by senior co-captains Elizabeth Hawthorne of Jenkintown, Pa., and Kim Holzer of Adams, Mass. Junior goalkeeper Peggy Ficks of Washington, Conn., boasts a 1.01 goals-against average, fourth-best in the NESCAC, an .892 save percentage and four shutouts.

Tufts enters the game at 8-6, having won four of their last five games. The Jumbos dropped a 2-1 decision to NCAA tournament qualifier Amherst on Saturday. They are led by top scorer Dana Chivvis of New Canaan, Conn., who has 11 goals and four assists for 26 points, third-best in the NESCAC, as rookie this season. Junior goalkeeper Dena Sloan of Milburn, N.J., is sixth in the NESCAC with a 1.47 GAA. The Bobcats and Jumbos have met once already this season, with Bates taking a 2-1 decision at home on Oct. 3. After Chivvis gave Tufts a 1-0 lead in the second half, Holzer scored her only goal of the season to tie the game with 7:48 remaining in the game, while junior Abby Lenhart of Bethesda, Md., scored the game-winner with 12 seconds left in regulation.

In other first-round matchups, No. 2 Wesleyan faces No. 7 Middlebury in another matchup of NESCAC rivals; No. 3 Wellesley plays host to No. 6 Colby; and No. 4 Mount Holyoke takes on No. 5 Williams. If Bates is victorious on Wednesday, the Bobcats will play host to the semifinals on Nov. 6 and the finals on Nov. 7, with times to be announced.