LEWISTON, Maine - The Bates men's lacrosse team pulled within two with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell to Wesleyan University, 10-7 at Garcelon Field Saturday afternoon.

Wesleyan (2-1, 2-0 NESCAC) stayed unbeaten in conference play and kept the host Bobcats (1-2, 0-2 NESCAC) in search of their first NESCAC win.

Wesleyan University's Matt Preziosa led all scorers with five goals on eight shots for the Cardinals, while sophomore Kyle Weber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) led the Bobcats with two goals on the day. Defensively, junior Joe Faria (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) recorded ten saves for Bates while junior defender Ken O'Friel led the Bobcats with six ground balls. Bates won the ground ball battle, 33-28.

Bates jumped out to the early 1-0 lead when junior attacker Charlie Hildebrand (Berwyn, Pa.) picked up a ground ball off of a Justin Schick save and flipped the ball behind his back for the score. The Cardinals responded with back-to-back unassisted goals from Nate Ryan and Harry Stanton during a three-minute span to put Wesleyan ahead 2-1. The Bobcats tied the game in the waning minutes of the first quarter when junior Jack Allard (Ridgewood, N.J.) found senior Matt McReddie (Rye, N.Y.) cutting through the open lane for the score.

The Cardinals responded with a three-goal second quarter led by Preziosa, who scored two goals in the period. Senior Jack Strain (Montclair, N.J.) netted the lone Bates goal of the quarter with 5:36 remaining in the first half, and the Bobcats headed into half time trailing by two, 5-3.

The Bobcat defense, which played tough all afternoon, held the Cardinal offense in check for the first five minutes of the third quarter, but Preziosa ultimately broke through for another goal with 9:29 remaining in the third to stake his team to the 6-3 lead. The Bobcats, as they did all day long, refused to go away, and Weber scooped up a ground ball in front of the goal, flipping it into the front of the net to pull Bates to within two, 6-4. Two was as close as Bates would get though, as the Cardinals' Lyle Mitchell scored a goal out of a time out with seven seconds to go, making it 7-4 to end the third quarter.

The two teams traded goals in the fourth quarter, starting with a Bobcat goal from sophomore Andrew Melvin (Medfield, Mass.) on another assist from Allard. Wesleyan led by as many as four goals with seven minutes remaining in regulation, but Bates responded with two quick goals from Weber and Allard to make it 9-7 with 4:44 to play. The Bobcats very nearly closed to within one, but a shot by Weber caught the post and Wesleyan cleared the ground ball to secure the win.

Senior Connor Cerniglia (Annapolis, Md). had four ground balls for Bates, while junior Sam Francis (Newburyport, Mass.), sophomore Fred Ulbrick (Fairfield, Conn.), and first-year Burke Smith (Wilton, Conn.) each had three ground balls. The Bobcats outshot Wesleyan 39-32 for the day.

Bates next plays on Wednesday, March 12 when the Bobcats host Roger Williams at 4:30 p.m. at Garcelon Field.