KEENE, N.H. -- Three different Bobcats tallied hat tricks and eight different players scored goals, propelling the No. 7 nationally ranked Bates men's lacrosse team to a 15-9 victory over the Keene State Owls on the road Tuesday evening.
Bates (6-0) never trailed in the contest and outscored the Owls (3-3) 8-0 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
The Bobcats led 7-4 at halftime and first-year Matt Chlastawa (Westfield, Mass.) extended their lead to four just 32 seconds into the third quarter. Chlastawa scored an unassisted goal, his third tally of the evening, making the score 8-4 in favor of Bates.
A little more than three minutes later, senior captain Kyle Weber (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) found fellow senior Andrew Melvin (Medfield, Mass.) for Melvin's 13th goal of the season. His tally put the Bobcats up 9-4.
Sophomore Dahnique Brown-Jones (New Britain, Conn.) scored unassisted with 10:11 remaining in the third quarter for his third goal of the season, extending the lead to 10-4.
With 7:14 left in the third, sophomore Matt Kelleher (Newburyport, Mass.) got on the board with his second goal of the season, an unassisted tally that made the score 11-4 in favor of the Bobcats.
Senior captain Charlie Fay (Falmouth, Maine), who scored once in the first half, notched his second goal of the night with 6:35 to go in the quarter by taking advantage of a man up situation on an assist from Weber.
Less than two minutes later, Fay scored again, this time on an assist from sophomore Rocco Fantoni (Hauppage, N.Y.) to extend the Bobcat advantage to 13-4.
With 3:25 to go in the third, Bates faced a man down situation, but managed to tally yet another goal. This time Kelleher found the back of the net on an assist from Fay.
First-year Curtis Knapton (Westbrook, Maine) capped off the dominating third quarter with the second goal of his collegiate career, on an assist from senior Wes Shrewsbury (Boxford, Mass.) with 1:59 remaining.
Bates led 15-4 through three quarters. Keene State scored the final five goals of the game but it was too little too late for the Owls.
Chlastawa and Weber scored the first two goals of the game for Bates but the Owls responded with back-to-back goals of their own, tying the score at two with 6:01 to go in the first quarter. Chlastawa put the Bobcats up for good on an assist from senior Jake Walsh (Baltimore, Md.) with 3:10 to go in the first.
The Bobcats held a 3-2 lead after one quarter. Weber and Fay combined to score three of the Bobcats' four goals in the second quarter as Bates took a 7-4 lead into intermission.
Weber finished with three goals and three assists. He currently leads the NESCAC with 21 goals on the season.
The Owls bombarded sophomore goalkeeper Mitchell Drake (Annapolis, Md.) with 57 shots on the evening. But Drake handled the pressure nicely, making a career-high 27 saves on 36 shots on goal.
The Bobcats held Keene State to just 1-8 on man up opportunities and Bates cleared 23 of 26 attempts on the night.
Bates visits undefeated Williams this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in a return to NESCAC action.
