Peabo Knoth had a goal and three assists as Bates won 9-0 over Newbury College on Oct. 1, 2014. (File photo by Sarah Crosby/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's soccer team turned a scoreless tie at halftime into an improbable rout, blasting Newbury College 9-0 with all goals scored in the second period Wednesday night at Garcelon Field.

The nine goals is four more than Bates had scored previously this season, and ties as the second-highest single-game total in team history.

Bates (2-7-1) received two goals apiece from freshmen David Dick and Max Watson, while Peabo Knoth added one goal and three assists to lead Bates scorers. Jason Stephansky, Aaron Nickelsberg and goalie Sam Polito all had two assists apiece.

Polito made one save in 83 minutes of action and Jack Anderson played the final six-plus minutes in net for Bates' second team shutout in the past three games.

Newbury goalie Woodjerry Dieudonne was severely tested in making 15 saves, as the Bobcats had a 43-5 advantage in shots attempted, 24 of which were on goal.

Bates controlled the first half with a 15-1 advantage in shots and a 4-1 edge in corner kicks, but the Bobcats missed on its several quality chances to score.

In the opening minute of the second half, the Bobcats broke the draw when Nickelsberg's shot from the right side of the box was deflected by Dieudonne. Bates sophomore Jack Martell (Gray, Maine) won the ball on the other side of the goal and got off a low shot inside the near (right) post.

The score remained 1-0 until the 54th minute, when senior Sean Moyo (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) finished off an unusual play in front of the net. Both Bates and Newbury players had fallen to the ground, allowing senior Lee Sandquist (Doylestown, Pa.) to control the ball close to the face of the goal and wait for a cutting Moyo to rush in. Sanquist flicked the ball behind him for Moyo to blast the ball in for an easy goal and a 2-0 lead.

Bates made it 3-0 in the 60th minute when Nickelsberg sent a long ball from just outside Bates' penalty area to Knoth, who outfought a Newbury defender even as both players streaked down the field. As the ball carried into the Newbury box, Knoth got his foot on the ball and pushed it softly past an oncoming Dieudonne, for his fourth goal this season.

Sandquist then got a goal of his own as Polito booted the ball from Bates' box to Knoth at the top of the Newbury box, where Knoth headed the ball deftly to Sandquist for the finish and a 4-0 lead.

Three freshmen combined to score the final five goals for the Bobcats. In the 70th minute Knoth, the one-on-one wonder, dribbled past a defender along the left baseline and struck a short, hard cross to Watson, who one-timed the ball past a helpless Dieudonne from five feet away.

Less than two minutes later, Polito earned his second assist of the game, and his third this season, when his long ball found both Knoth and Dick free in the Newbury end with no defenders to stop them. Knoth basically conceded the ball to Dick, who, fired a hard shot that glanced off of Dieudonne's torso and into the net for his first goal. 

Just a minute after that score, Stephansky's cross from the right wing was redirected off the head of Watson into the upper right corner of the net, making it 7-0 in the 73rd minute. Three minutes later, Knoth had the ball and a defender on him, so he flicked the ball backward to a waiting first-year forward Nate Merchant, whose shot bounced awkwardly into the goal between Dieudonne and the right post.

The scoring came to an end after Dicks' second goal, set up by another cross from Stephansky in the 86th minute.

Bates resumes NESCAC play on Saturday, hosting Connecticut College at 2pm.