By Sarah Sprague
Staff Writer

Senior Lori Jessup scored her 100th goal, assisted by classmate Samara Khalique, at 53:26 during the women’s lacrosse team’s home game versus the Connecticut College Camels on Saturday, Apr. 3. It was Jessup’s second goal of the game.

“I’ve loved the challenge of shooting to score, [but] goals often start with a big play on defense or in the midfield,” said Jessup. “It may have been the 100th goal, but lacrosse is a team sport and goals don’t happen individually; they happen as a team.”

The Camels came out on top 14-11 in a nail-biter of a game. The Bobcats started off the game with the draw control and an early goal by rookie Alison Marshall. Conn College came right back to tie the game at 1-1 at 2:31. The two teams continued to trade goals throughout the rest of the game.

Each team utilized every tactic they had and capitalized on the others’ mistakes. At one point, Khalique checked the unsuspecting Camel goalkeeper standing behind the goal, gaining possession of the ball and leaving the net empty. A ground ball ensued, and Bates got possession and the goal.

Senior Becky Castle had two goals in the first half, while junior Erica Nason added one, and Jessup netted her first of the game. By halftime the score was 8-5 in favor of Connecticut and both teams were eager to take the field again.

The second half consisted of frustrating officiating and excellent goalkeeping, which kept the game close and the spectators on the edge of their seats. Junior goalkeeper Liz McNamara had seven saves in the half and 14 total.

Senior captain Lizzie Anson said, “Liz McNamara played a great game in goal, and Lori Jessup’s 100 goal mark was definitely a highlight of the game and a huge accomplishment.”

First-year Liz Greenwood and Marshall worked together to start off the second. First came a goal from Greenwood, then a goal from Marshall (assisted by Greenwood) and another from Greenwood a few minutes later.

But the Bobcats had a hard time stopping the Camel breakaways from midfield and that was what made the difference at the end of regulation. Towards the end of the second half, those breakaways allowed the Camels to score three in a row, giving them the lead at 14-10. Nason scored the last goal with 45 seconds remaining to give Bates 11.

It was the women’s second loss to a NESCAC opponent this week and their record now stands at 4-6, 0-5 in conference. They also lost their first game of last week 20-7 against Colby College on Wed., Mar. 31.

Although many of the statistics of the game were surprisingly equal for each team, it is apparent that the Mules’ ability to capitalize on each opportunity led to their win. While both Bates and Colby had seven draw controls per period, the Mules out-shot the Bobcats 23-13 in the first half and then 18-13 in the second. They were then able to covert those shots into goals, scoring 10 in each half. They were also able to use the 12 free positions to score seven of those goals, an impressive percentage and one that seriously hurt the Bobcats as they converted on none of their five opportunities.

Jessup led off the Bobcats with a goal assisted by Marshall a little over three minutes into the game. The Mules then scored seven unanswered goals. The women came back towards the end of the half with two goals by Nason, one each from rookies Kat Farmer and Katie Unger. The half ended with the Bobcats down 10-5.

The second half was more Colby dominance, however, as they scored seven more goals in a row. Bates went 15 minutes without a goal until Carrie Smith scored unassisted. Another 14 minutes went by until Bates scored again, this time by Castle. In between these Bates goals, Colby answered back with three goals. McNamara had 11 saves.

After playing five home games in a row, the women hit the road for four away games, the first of which will be against Gordon on Monday, Apr. 5. Although not a NESCAC opponent, a win versus Gordon would set the women up nicely for their next three conference games.

“We’re looking forward to facing Trinity and Tufts in some big NESCAC games coming up – we’re hoping to play our game and maintain the intensity,” said Anson.

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