The visiting Bantams (2-1, 1-1 NESCAC) took a 5-2 lead after one quarter, then outscored the Bobcats (1-4, 0-2 NESCAC) 5-2 again in the third quarter to pull away for the conference win.

Trinity outshot Bates by a slight 48-45 margin and turned the ball over eight fewer times than the hosts, while overcoming a 21-9 Bates advantage in faceoffs won.

Bates senior First Team All-American Matt Chlastawa (Westfield, Mass.) had a two goals and five assists to lead the Bates attack in his second game back from injury. Senior Curtis Knapton (Westbrook, Maine) and senior Otis Klingbeil (Powell, Ohio) scored two goals apiece. Senior Brendan Mullally (Baltimore, Md.) scored a goal and added two assists, and sophomore Jack Lousararian (Mansfield, Mass.) added a goal and an assist.

Junior Chris Costello (Ridgefield, Conn.) took every faceoff for the Bobcats, winning 21 of 30 and scooping a game-high nine ground balls.

Reid McDonald scored four times for Trinity, while Cullen Wolff added two goals and an assist and Thomas Mara passed out four assists. Peter O'Donnell-Sheehan was a defensive force with three caused turnovers and five ground balls.

Patrick Grimes made 11 saves to earn the win in goal, while senior Rob Strain (Montclair, N.J.) made 10 saves for Bates.

Bates struck first on a fast break initiated by junior defender Will Haskell's (Norwalk, Conn.) ground ball, with Klingbeil scoring on a turnaround rip off a feed from Mullally. Trinity answered with 10:34 to go in the quarter, as McDonald carried from the restart right through an open lane on the left wing to score.

Chlastawa put Bates back ahead with his first goal of the season, as Lousararian scooped a loose ball off the rebound of junior Steven Canale's (North Andover, Mass.) shot off the post, and found Chlastawa open by the left post.

Trinity tied it 2-2 with 8:00 to go, when McCulloch ended a long scramble for a loose ball around Bates' defensive zone, by flicking it past Strain from in front. Trinity won the ensuing faceoff and scored less than a minute later, with McCulloch feeding Jackson Wood to put the Bantams ahead for the first time and for good at 3-2. The Bantams finished the quarter with a 4-0 run, as Morty Fearey scored on an assist from Wolff at 5:13 and Jackson Trimmer fed Drew Kozub with 2:05 left.

Bates scored the first two goals of the second quarter, closing the gap to 5-4 before Trinity had gained possession in the period. First-year Will Schinabeck (Shaker Heights, Ohio) scored 40 seconds into the quarter, and Chlastawa fed Knapton for a score at the 13:40 mark. But Trinity scored three of the next four to regain a three-goal advantage, as McDonald scored on both sides of a Golden score, and Wolff's unassisted tally at 8:20 made it 8-5. Chlastawa hit Knapton on the run again to close the gap to 8-6, but Trinity neutralized the score seconds later, as Fitzgerald won the faceoff, scooped the ground ball and fired past Strain for a 9-6 lead that Trinity took into halftime.

Bates closed within two for the last time to when Golden scored on a run from the right wing in the opening minute of the third quarter. Trinity answered three minutes later as Mara fed McDonald. Mara assisted again 42 seconds later to McCulloch, and McCulloch opened a 12-7 lead with a man-up goal scored with 8:26 to go in the third.

Mullally scored from Chlastawa with 8:02 to go to make it 12-8. But Trinity regained a five-goal lead less than a minute later. O'Donnell-Sheehan stole the ball away after Bates won the faceoff, and with 7:04 to go, McCulloch buried an open shot at the left post after Mara escaped a double-team and found his open teammate. Mara assisted McCulloch for the third time in the period with 5:10 to go, as Trinity scored a man-up goal for a 14-8 lead the Bantams took into the final quarter.

The teams traded goals over the fourth quarter as the Bobcats could not threaten the Bantam lead.

Bates next plays at Western New England University Tuesday at 5pm.