LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 10 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team scored three times in the first quarter and rolled to a 5-0 win over No. 20 Hamilton Saturday at Campus Ave. Field.

Bates (6-3, 3-2 NESCAC) dominated from the jump for the program's first shutout of the Continentals (6-4, 2-4 NESCAC) since Hamilton was fully integrated into conference play in 2011. 

The Bobcats earned a penalty corner in the second minute of action and senior captain Molly Griffin (Holden, Mass.) delivered the insert to senior captain Sarah Bussell (Thompson's Station, Tenn.). Bussell swung the ball around the outside of the circle to junior Anna Lindeis (New Canaan, Conn.), who delivered a perfect feed to Griffin on the left side of the cage. Griffin lofted the ball over the Hamilton goalkeeper and Continental defender Grace Cooper attempted to clear the ball. She was unable to as senior Molly Harmon (Farmington, Maine) deflected the clear attempt into the left side of the cage for her first goal of the season. 

Senior Ella Blum (South Salem, N.Y.) added to the Bates lead in the ninth minute. The Hamilton keeper attempted to clear a ball out of the circle with her right foot, but the ball ended up on Blum's stick, and she ripped a shot past the keeper into the lower right corner for her second goal of the season. 

The Bobcats weren't done. In the 12th minute, Bates took advantage of another penalty corner. Sophomore Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) delivered the insert to junior Anna Cote (Auburn, Maine), who tried a back-handed shot that went off the stick of sophomore Emma Queen (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in front of the cage. Moloney-Kolenberg was able to gather the ball as it rolled away to the left side and she lifted a shot past the keeper for the third Bates goal of the first quarter and her second of the year. 

Up 3-0 after one, the Bobcats out-shot Hamilton 5-0 in the second quarter but did not score, taking a 3-0 lead and a 13-2 advantage in shots into halftime.

In the 40th minute, Moloney-Kolenberg struck again. Anna Cote split two defenders and moved into the right side of the circle, feeding the ball across toward the left post. It got deflected by senior captain Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine) and Moloney-Kolenberg was there to tip it in for a 4-0 Bates lead. 

Anna Cote capped off the scoring in the 58th minute. Once again, a penalty corner led to a Bates goal. Moloney-Kolenberg delivered the insert, and Cote did the rest. She moved to her right after receiving the ball at the top of the circle, then spun and delivered a back-handed goal into the back of the cage, her fourth tally of the season. 

The Bobcats recorded 21 shots (10 on goal) in the contest and held the Continentals to four shots (two on goal). Bates earned 10 penalty corners to Hamilton's three.

Sophomore Kaili Jacobsen (Fairfield, Conn.) made a pair of saves and picked up the shutout in the cage for Bates.

The Bobcats are back in action Sunday at 12pm when they host No. 21 Wesleyan at Campus Ave. Field.