LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's soccer team got a number of spectacular saves from sophomore goalkeeper Robbie Montanaro but couldn't get on the scoreboard in a 1-0 loss to Hamilton Saturday afternoon at Russell Street Field.

Montanaro (Belmont, Mass.) made a total of five saves for the Bobcats (1-1, 0-1 NESCAC) in the closely contested match.

Each team recorded 16 shots but good defense from both sides resulted in relatively few shots on goal. Many of the shots for both sides were blocked by the opposing team. The Continentals (1-1, 1-0 NESCAC) recorded six shots on goal while Bates managed four.

Hamilton wasted no time grabbing the early lead, scoring a goal on their first shot, just three minutes and 42 seconds into the game. Alex Cadet found Mike Lubelczyk who blasted the ball into the back of the net, giving Hamilton a 1-0 edge they did not relinquish. 

Hamilton tallied seven of the first nine shots in the match. The Bobcats' best opportunity to score in the first half came in the 29th minute when sophomore Drew Munoz (Dallas, Texas) hit the post after first-year Eric Opoku's (Accra, Ghana) shot got blocked. 

The second half saw the Bobcats out-shoot Hamilton 10-8 but nothing went in for Bates.

Montanaro made four of his five saves in a span of four minutes in the second half. He stopped a header attempt from Lubelczyk in the 49th minute and followed that up with back-to-back acrobatic saves, diving left and right to deny two shot attempts by Jefri Schmidt. A header in the 53rd minute from Eli Morris also did not get past the sophomore keeper.

Bates' last shot on goal in the contest came in the 85th minute when Opoku's bicycle kick was stopped by Hamilton goalkeeper Harris Pollack. 

The Bobcats are back in action Sunday afternoon when they host Newbury at 1:00 p.m. on Garcelon Field. Hamilton hosts Trinity in NESCAC action next Saturday.