LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates freshman Candido Bousquet scored with 9:52 play to lift the Bobcat men's soccer team over rival Colby 2-1 on Friday afternoon, sending Bates into the NESCAC Championship on Sunday as the fifth seed and ending the Mules' season.

Bates (9-5, 4-5 NESCAC) will play at No. 4 seed Williams (7-5-2, 4-4-1) on Sunday at noon in the quarterfinals of the eight-team NESCAC Championship. Meanwhile Colby drops to 7-6-1, 3-5-1 and ties for ninth place in the conference with Connecticut College.

Bousquet (Mountainside, N.J.) scored after junior Jonathan Lobozzo's (New Gloucester, Maine) corner kick found sophomore Patrick King (Gorham, Maine) near Colby's right goalpost. King sent the ball out to Bousquet in front of the penalty area, and the first-year forward drilled the game-winner past Colby goalie Dan Marden (Londonderry, N.H.).

The goal gave Bates its fourth straight win to finish the regular season and puts the Bobcats in a four-way tie for fifth place in the final conference standings, as Bates, Tufts, Wesleyan and Bowdoin all finished with identical conference win percentages of .444.  In head-to-head competition, Bates was 2-1, Tufts was 2-1, Wesleyan was 1-2 and Bowdoin was 1-2. In head to head competition of the teams that were 2-1: Bates defeated Tufts to earn the No. 5 seed, making Tufts the No. 6 seed.   

Colby took a 1-0 lead with 36:48 left to play in regulation, when senior Logan King (Hingham, Mass.) found sophomore Nate Seiberling (Sharon, Mass.) in the box in front of the Bates goal, where Seiberling put it past Bates first-year goalie Greg Watts (West Chester, Pa.).

Bates evened the game at 1-1 with 14:03 left to play, when Patrick King deftly flicked a pass behind his back to junior Patrick Jackson (Durham, N.H.), who scored inside the near right post for his team-high ninth goal this season.

Colby had a small majority of good scoring opportunities in the first half, particularly in the 28th minute when senior Logan King's head ball was deflected up by Watts to bounce high off of the crossbar, and senior Nate Kellogg (Natick, Mass.) cleared the ball from harm with a head ball of his own.

Bates built a 14-6 advantage in shots taken. Marden made four saves for the Mules, while Watts made three for the Bobcats.

Bates faced Williams on Sept. 13 in Lewiston, and the Ephs came away with a 1-0 win.

STATS: Bates 2, Colby 1

2008 NESCAC MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP

Quarterfinals - Sunday, November 2 at Higher Seeds
No. 8 Bowdoin at No. 1 Middlebury - 12:00 p.m.
No. 7 Wesleyan at No. 2
Amherst - 12:00 p.m.
No. 6 Tufts at No. 3 Trinity - 12:00 p.m.
No. 5 Bates at No. 4 Williams - 12:00 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.