Rachel Greenwood's goal puts the Bobcats back in the NESCAC Field Hockey Championship.

LEWISTON, Maine -- Rachel Greenwood's breakaway goal in the sixth minute of first overtime gave the Bates College field hockey team a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Colby Friday evening at Campus Avenue Field.

Greenwood (Williamstown, Mass.) scored Bates' biggest goal of the season with 9:20 to play in the first sudden victory overtime period, when she broke behind the Mule defense, made a move around advancing Colby goalie Liz Fontaine, and tucked the ball inside the far left post from an angle at about 10 feet away. It was Greenwood's seventh goal this year.

The victory vaults Bates (6-8, 2-7 NESCAC) into the eight-team field of the NESCAC Championship, where the Bobcats return for the first time since 2005. Bates takes the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will play at No. 2 seed Bowdoin on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

Colby finishes the regular season with a 5-9 overall record, 2-7 and tied with Bates and Connecticut College for seventh place in the conference. Bates wins the tiebreaker amongst the three teams, with a 2-0 head-to-head record. Colby wins a tiebreaker against the Camels with a head-to-head win, and the Mules take the eighth seed in NESCACs. They'll play at top seed Tufts Sunday at 1 p.m.

Colby's Meryl Poulin put the Mules ahead twice in the first half with a pair of unassisted goals. The first came in the sixth minute of the game, when she shot past Bates junior goalie Katie McEnroe (Hockessin, Del.) on a loose ball opportunity. Bates senior Abby Childs (Philadelphia, Pa.) evened the game at 1-1, however, deflecting in a shot by junior Samantha Rothkopf (Chicago, Ill.) on a penalty corner play. Poulin's second goal came in the game's 28th minute, when she knocked in a rebounded McEnroe save off a shot by Heather Quadir on a penalty corner play.

Bates evened the game again after 26 scoreless minutes of play, when Sema Kazarian converted an assist by junior Morgan Maciewicz (Marblehead, Mass.) for her team-high eighth goal of the season.

Fontaine made eight saves for Colby, while McEnroe made 13 saves for Bates, helping to turn around a 34-18 Colby advantage in shots.

STATS: Bates 3, Colby 2 (OT)

2008 NESCAC FIELD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

Quarterfinals - Sunday, November 2 at Higher Seeds
No. 8 Colby at No. 1 Tufts - 1:00 p.m.
No. 7 Bates at No. 2 Bowdoin - 1:00 p.m.
No. 6 Williams at No. 3 Middlebury - 1:00 p.m.
No. 5 Trinity at No. 4 Amherst - 1:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, November 8 at Highest Remaining Seed
11:00 a.m./1:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, November 9
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.