Sydney Cowles '17 scored a pair of goals against No. 2 Middlebury College on April 11, 2015 (File photo by Kim Lloyd/Bates College)

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Bates women's lacrosse team scored four of the final six goals, but were unable to overcome a hot start from No. 2 ranked Middlebury College, falling 18-6 Saturday afternoon in NESCAC action.

Sydney Cowles (Wayne, Pa.) was the only Bates player to score multiple goals on the afternoon, netting two tallies, while Allison Dewey (Vergennes, Vt.), Emma Noto (Portland, Ore.), Kelan McCann (Shrewsbury, Mass.), and Camille Belletete (Jaffrey, N.H.) each scored one for the Bobcats. Belletete also led the Bobcats with four draw controls. Middlebury was led by Mary O'Connell and Katie Ritter, who notched six and five goals, respectively.

Middlebury jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but the Bobcats answered when Belletete found the back of the net on a free-position shot at the 17:25 mark. But the Panthers responded by rattling off five-straight goals in a 2:09 span. Middlebury added three more goals before Noto scored the second goal of the day for the Bobcats on a free position shot with under a minute remaining in the first half.

The Panthers opened the second with four goals, but the Bobcats scored their second goal on a free position shot from Cowles at the 18:40 mark. Dewey followed with an unassisted goal with 11:28 remaining. McCann and Cowles scored the final two tallies for Bates, both unassisted to set the final score.

Hannah Jeffrey (Greenwich, Conn.) and Jill Conway (Andover, Mass.) split time between the pipes for the Bobcats, with Jeffrey playing 40 minutes and notching four saves, while Conway made one stop in twenty minutes of action. Bates made the most of their free-position shots, going 3-4 on the day.

Bates will play their final game of the regular season on April 22, when they travel to No. 4 Colby College.