BATES WOMEN'S SOCCER RETURNS TO NCAA TOURNEY
 

LEWISTON, Maine -- For the second consecutive season, the Bates College women's soccer team (9-5) has earned a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. The Bobcats are the fifth seed, but will host Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) Conference rival Colby College (8-5), the fourth seed, on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.

Bates leads the all-time series between the two teams, 11-10-3, but Colby won the most recent meeting between the two teams, 2-0, on Oct. 25 in Waterville. The two teams have never met in the postseason.

Last season, the Bobcats also reached the NCAA tournament as the fifth seed and went on to reach the regional finals. Bates defeated CBB rival Bowdoin, a team they had lost to in the regular season, 2-0, on the road in a mid-week game. They also topped previously undefeated Williams, 2-0, on their home field, before losing in the regional finals to Amherst, 1-0.

Bates entered this season as the number one team in New England according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America polls, but lost two of their first three games to drop out of the top five. The Bobcats finished strongly, winning five out of their last six contests, outscoring opponents 15-6. Bates is 1-2 against other teams in the NCAA field, having defeated Bowdoin, 3-1, to end the regular season. The losses are to Colby (2-0) and Middlebury (3-0).

The Bobcats are led by 1996 first-team All-American sophomore forward Kate O'Malley (Deephaven, Minn.), who has nine goals and four assists for 22 points. As a first-year player last year, O'Malley established Bates single season records for goals and points in a season and currently stands in fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 65 points. Junior Colleen McCrave (Walpole, Mass.) is a 1996 first-team All-New England selection. She has four goals and six assists for 14 points, second on the team this year. McCrave's 46 career points are eighth all-time at Bates. Junior goalkeeper Susie Arnold (Falmouth, Mass.) has allowed 15 goals in 14 games for a 1.13 goals-against average. Her career GAA is 0.89.

The winner of the game on Wednesday will face top-seeded Plymouth State College (15-2) in a regional semifinal in Plymouth, N.H., on Saturday, Nov. 8. The other regional semifinal pits 10-3-1 Bowdoin College and 11-3 Middlebury College.

"We are very fortunate to have reached the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and to have the opportunity to host a first-round game," head coach Jim Murphy '69 said. "I know our team is looking forward to another chance against Colby."