MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Sophomore Adam Cowie-Haskell notched a hat trick, and the Cardinal offense unleashed 22 shots to help the Wesleyan men's soccer team defeat visiting Bates, 5-0, in a NESCAC contest at Jackson Field Saturday afternoon.  

In 17 previous meetings of the teams, neither had scored more than three goals in a game against the other. Wesleyan now leads the series 10-4-4.

Senior Brandon Sousa got the scoring started at 22:50 when he knocked home a centering pass from freshman Komar Martinez-Paiz that had been deflected right in front of the net.

The Cardinals made it 2-0 at 34:22 on the first tally of the day by Cowie-Haskell. He blasted a shot in from 10 yards out after receiving a pass from Sousa. It was nearly his second goal of the half, as only an acrobatic save by Bates senior goalie Sam Polito (Far Hills, N.J.) kept out a shot he made from 15 yards just four minutes prior to the goal.  

Polito began the game with a 95.8 save percentage and 0.23 goals-against average.  He went 78 minutes in goal with a busy 11 saves.

The best chance for Bates in the half came with just over five minutes left on a shot by its leading scorer, senior Luis Pereira (Curitiba, Brazil). A diving stop by Cardinal junior goaltender Jack Katkavich sent the ball past the near goalpost. Katkavich finished the game with five stops in 82:45 in net.

The Cardinals played nearly a flawless first half, outshooting Bates 11-2. Wesleyan also held the territorial advantage, only allowing a handful of deep Bobcat penetrations.

Cowie-Haskell got his second goal just 1:15 into the second half on a crossing pass from senior Max Jones. He completed the hat trick at 59:39 after a long serve in from sophomore Nick Jackson.

Freshman Eric Gooden closed the scoring at 66:17 when he rammed home a ball with junior Danny Rubenstein getting the helper.

Bates stays on the road to play a second NESCAC game of the weekend at Williams at 2pm.