Noah Riskind '16 assisted on three goals as Bates downed the University of Southern Maine 9-0 on Oct. 16, 2013. File photo by Mike Bradley/Bates College.

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's soccer team defeated the University of Southern Maine 9-0 on Wednesday night at Garcelon Field, tying for the second-most goals in one game in team history and for the second-highest margin of victory.

The Bobcats rose to 4-5-2 overall, while the visiting Huskies dropped to 0-14-1.

Senior back Dan Remillard (Hanover, N.H.) and sophomore midfielder Luis Pereira (Curitiba, Brazil) scored two goals apiece, with Remillard adding in an assist. First-year forward Peabo Knoth (Portland, Maine) tallied one goal and a pair of assists, and sophomore Noah Riskind (Bethesda, Md.) added three more helpers, the first three of his career.

The game was played deceptively evenly in the first half, until Bates broke it open late in the period. Remillard got the scoring going in the seventh minute, beautifully heading in a free kick from Riskind and tucking it into the upper left corner of the goal, past Huskies first-year goalie Matthew Willis (Standish, Maine). The lead stayed at one until the 27th minute, when a USM back redirected a cross by Bates junior Tyler Schleich (Santa Barbara, Calif.) past a helpless Willis for an own goal to make it 2-0.

USM had its opportunities as well, including a header by junior Tyler Rand (Westbrook, Maine) off a corner kick by sophomore Kevin McConnell (Veazie, Maine) with under five minute to go in the period.

Bates then piled up two more goals before the end of the half, both on headers. 
With 2:57 left in the period, Knoth got a step on his defender on the left wing and struck a beautiful center cross. Sophomore Wes Shrewsbury (Boxford, Mass.) outleapt his man from eight yards away and knocked the ball with his forehead into the lower left corner of the goal for a 3-0 lead.

Then with 1:23 to go, Riskind took a corner kick that skimmed close to the ground into the box. Remillard bent low, almost to the ground, to redirect the ball toward the left post, and it glanced off a USM defender and in, suddenly giving the Bobcats a 4-0 lead before the half.
Bates added to the lead 13 minutes into the second half with its third goal on a header of the game, this time on a corner kick by Riskind that was headed in by leaping senior Tyler Grees (Williamstown, Mass.). 

Knoth, the Bobcats' leading scorer, missed a clear shot early in the half, but got into the act in the 67th minute with a brilliant score, fending off a defender until got off a low, hard shot through the USM defense and past a frozen Willis. 

Three minutes later, Pereira retied Knoth for the team goals lead with his fourth of the season, getting a pass from Remillard just into the penalty area and slotting another low shot into the goal. Improbably, Pereira added his second goal of the game just 37 seconds later, with 19:20 left in the game, this time shooting from the right side of the box past substitute first-year goalie Adam Verreault (Poland, Maine). Pereira has scored all five of his goals this season in the past two games.

Bates first-year Luke McNabb (Glastonbury, Conn.) then capped the scoring with his first collegiate goal in the 82nd minute, receiving a square ball from Knoth and ripping a shot from 35 yards away that tucked under the crossbar for the 9-0 lead.

USM nearly broke the shutout with 29:25 remaining, as a long free kick by Rand was turned away by a diving sophomore goalie Joe Maffly-Kipp (Chapel Hill, N.C.). And with 12:37 to go, first-year Jonathan Varney's (Readfield, Maine) close-range shot from a tough angle was deflected out of bounds by the Bates keeper.

USM earned six corner kicks to eight for Bates, and was outshot by a 23-5 margin. 

Maffly-Kipp made two second-half saves in the combined shutout with starting keeper, sophomore Sam Polito (Far Hills, N.J.). Willis made five saves in 70-plus minutes for USM, and Verreault tallied one save.

Bates returns to NESCAC play to host Middlebury on Saturday at 2pm, at Russell Street Field, while Southern Maine plays at Little East foe Western Connecticut State on Saturday at 11am.