WATERVILLE, Maine -- For the third time in as many years, the Bates field hockey team had to beat the Colby College Mules in the final game of the regular season in order to make the NESCAC tournament.
And for the third time in as many years, that's exactly what Bates did.
The No. 20 nationally ranked Bobcats (9-6, 5-5 NESCAC) eliminated the Mules (9-6, 4-6 NESCAC) from playoff contention with a 3-2 victory Wednesday on a rainy night in Waterville.Â
With the win, Bates earns the eighth seed in the NESCAC tournament and visits top seed and No. 2 nationally ranked Middlebury on Saturday. The NESCAC quarterfinal match is set for 12:00 p.m.
Junior Taylor Lough (Little Compton, R.I.) scored the game-winning goal with just eight seconds remaining in regulation to give the Bobcats the victory. It marked the second goal of the night for Lough and her team-leading ninth of the season.Â
With time running out, sophomore Ally Leahy (Cohasset, Mass.) approached the goal and delivered a cross when the goalkeeper dove at her. Lough collected the ball and executed a perfect curl. That created enough space for her to find an opening in the defense. Lough fired the ball into the back of the cage to sink Colby and give Bates the win.
"My favorite word all year has been 'relentless' and that's what this team is," Bates head coach Dani Ryder said after the win. "Whether it's five seconds to go in the game or five months until the beginning of the season, this team has shown they will never back down."Â
The Mules took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Eliza Mell scored from in front off a pass from Georgia Cassidy.
But the Bobcats tallied the equalizer in the 23rd minute when sophomore Isa Garcia-Moreno (Baltimore, Md.) attacked from the right side. She had her original shot saved by Colby goaltender Riley Whitmyer but knocked in her rebound to even things at one.
The game was tied at one at the half.Â
Lough scored her first goal of the game to give Bates a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute. She took a long pass from senior Caroline O'Reilly (Longmeadow, Mass.), made a quick turn, and ripped a low shot for the score.
Cassidy scored with 8:58 left in the game to tie the score at 2-2. She took a pass up high from Delaney Keithley, went to her right, and ripped a blast from just inside the circle.
The score remained tied until Lough's goal in the final seconds.
The Bobcats had a 16-7 advantage in shots and a 12-3 margin in penalty corners.
Whitmyer made six of her nine saves in the second half for the Mules. Junior Adelae Durand (Cumberland, R.I.) was credited with one save for the Bobcats.
Bates actually finished in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference. Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin and Trinity all finished with identical conference records of 5-5.
In head-to-head competition, Trinity went 3-0, while Amherst, Bates and Bowdoin went 1-2 as Trinity earned the No. 5 seed in the NESCAC tournament. Amherst, Bates and Bowdoin were 1-1 against each other in head-to-head competition.
In comparing results against the top four teams (Middlebury, Tufts, Williams and Hamilton), Amherst went 2-2 and Bates and Bowdoin went 1-3 as Amherst earned the No. 6 seed.
In head-to-head competition, Bowdoin defeated Bates to earn the No. 7 seed.
The Bobcats fell 6-3 to Middlebury in the regular season but will look to turn the tables on Saturday when the NESCAC Championships get underway.
"We're going to kill it in the tournament," Garcia-Moreno said. "We're so excited!"
