LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 13 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team stormed back from a two-goal deficit but fell in heartbreaking fashion in overtime by a score of 3-2 to No. 5 Trinity Saturday at Campus Ave. Field.

In the 63rd minute, Trinity's Elle Fair weaved through traffic into the middle of the circle. She didn't get much on a slow rolling shot, but teammate Katrina Winfield redirected the ball enough for it to sneak into the goal, providing the game-winning tally for the visitors. 

Bates (5-4, 2-3 NESCAC) outshot the Bantams (9-0, 5-0 NESCAC) by a count of 14-11 in the contest. But Trinity controlled play for the first 30 minutes before Bates turned the game on its head after halftime. 

The teams played to a scoreless tie in the first quarter, although the Bantams ripped off six shots, forcing Bates senior goalkeeper Grace Biddle (State College, Pa.) to make three early saves.

In the 17th minute, Caelin Flaherty turned in a great individual effort for the first tally of the contest. She received the ball on the right side of the circle and danced around a defender before firing a shot on the run from straight on into the lower left corner of the cage for the 1-0 Trinity lead.

The Bobcats started to put more pressure on the Bantams, recording three shots in the second quarter after only tallying one in the first. But the Bantams got another goal when they earned a penalty stroke opportunity in the 30th minute. Fair took full advantage, shooting the ball top shelf past a diving Biddle, who guessed correctly but could not make the stop. 

Down 2-0 at the intermission, the Bobcats turned the tide in the third quarter. They earned a remarkable seven penalty corners over the course of 15 minutes and outshot Trinity 8-1.

In the 34th minute, Bates got on the scoreboard thanks to one of those penalty corners. Junior Ella Blum (South Salem, N.Y.) delivered the insert and junior Lauren Salazar (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) set up junior captain Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine) at the top of the circle for the latter's third goal of the season.

Now down by one, the Bobcats continued to control play and they tallied the equalizer in the 42nd minute, once again taking advantage of a penalty corner.

Junior Kami Lambert (Augusta, Maine) delivered the insert to Salazar, who passed it around the perimeter to Cote. Instead of shooting like she did earlier, Cote found junior Molly Harmon (Farmington, Maine) on the left side of the circle. Harmon snuck a shot past the Trinity keeper for her first career goal, tying the score at two. 

The Bobcats continued to put the pressure on the Bantams down the stretch but couldn't find the back of the cage again. Trinity's Olivia McMichael matched Biddle with five saves in the contest. Izzy Deveney added a defensive save for the visitors. 

With the loss, the Bobcats fall to 1-1 in overtime contests this season. Earlier in the year, they beat No. 8 Williams 1-0 in OT on the road.

Bates is back in action this Tuesday when the Bobcats host the University of New England at 4pm.