LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with No. 18 nationally ranked Wesleyan in a scoreless first half before the Cardinals pulled away for a 3-0 win over the Bobcats Saturday morning at Russell Street Field. 

Bates (3-7-2, 1-6 NESCAC) tallied four shots in the first and held the Cardinals (8-1, 6-1 NESCAC) to just two shots, neither of which were on goal. But Wesleyan struck first early in the second half when Lina Rodriguez got fouled in the box, setting up a penalty kick. She buried the penalty kick in the lower right side of the net, giving Wesleyan a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute.

The Cardinals added to their lead in the 63rd minute. Dani Milovanov passed the ball to Julia Meehan and Meehan lofted a ball toward the net from about 30 yards out. The ball got tipped by the Bates keeper but kept going, finding the back of the net for a 2-0 Wesleyan advantage. 

Perhaps Wesleyan's most impressive goal of the match came in the 78th minute. Ally Stanton delivered a pass to Remi Feuerman and Feuerman ripped a low line drive shot from outside the box that found the back left corner of the net, making the score 3-0. 

Despite the final score, it was a fairly even contest statistically. The Cardinals finished the match with 13 shots (four on goal) and Bates tallied 11 shots (three on goal). The Cardinals held an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks but did not score off any of them. 

Junior Joanna Cloutier (Portland, Ore.) paced Bates with a pair of shots on goal. Senior Lauren Berube (Auburn, Maine) and junior Elizabeth Patrick (Ipswich, Mass.) tallied two shots each. Berube had a shot on goal and both of Patrick's shots were just wide. 

Sarah Hammond made a pair of saves in 81:50 minutes in goal to earn the win for Wesleyan. Senior Kat Nuckols (Los Angeles) made one save for Bates.

The Bobcats are back in action Wednesday at 3:30pm when they visit Bowdoin.