LEWISTON, Maine -- The No. 22 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team lost just one player to graduation from a team that went 9-7 in 2022, giving the Bobcats a lot of optimism that 2023 could prove to be a breakthrough year for the program. Bates opens the campaign Tuesday at 7pm when the Bobcats host the University of Southern Maine at Campus Ave. Field.

The Bobcats went 5-5 in NESCAC play last season, with wins over then-No. 6 nationally ranked Bowdoin and then-No. 8 Williams along the way. They also had some close defeats, falling 3-2 in overtime to then-No. 5 Trinity and suffering a pair of one-goal losses to a nationally ranked Tufts squad, including a 1-0 defeat in the NESCAC quarterfinals.

Bates had a solid season, but it was very close to being a great season. Now, with the vast majority of the roster back for another go at it, 11th-year head coach Dani Kogut is confident in her team's chances to be a force in the always-tough NESCAC.

"It's been a really exciting preseason so far," Kogut said. "Not only are the returnees upholding expectations, but they have also raised the bar higher than we've ever had it before."

The Bobcats have a trio of senior captains, headlined by NFHCA Third Team All-American Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine), the all-time leader in career assists at Bates. She had a monster 2022 campaign, scoring six goals and dishing out 13 assists, two shy of the Bates single-season record. Sarah Bussell (Thompson's Station, Tenn.) returns in the midfield and Molly Griffin (Holden, Mass.) is a rock on defense for the Bobcats.

"It's a really nice balance down the field of three seniors who have put in a ton of work and dedicated an enormous amount of time to the program," Kogut said. "They are three of eight seniors, who are all setting a really good example for our first-years of what we are all about." 

The Bobcats out-scored opponents 43-27 last year and when it came to scoring goals, no one did it more often for Bates than Kami Lambert (Augusta, Maine), who found the back of the cage 12 times as a junior. A second team All-Region selection, Lambert finished tied for sixth in the NESCAC with 27 points. Senior Ella Blum (South Salem, N.Y.), junior Anna Cote (Auburn, Maine), and junior Maria Femia (Canton, Mass.) scored six goals apiece last year for Bates, providing even more fire power returning to the team this season. Junior Anna Lindeis (New Canaan, Conn.) added four goals and three assists, tying Lambert and Bussell for second on the team in the latter category.

Bates does have to replaced now-graduated goalkeeper Grace Biddle '23, who played 693:18 minutes in goal last year, but sophomore Kaili Jacobsen (Fairfield, Conn.) got plenty of reps as a first-year, playing 270 minutes in goal and posting a record of 3-1 on the season. 

With a difficult schedule (Bates plays five top-15 teams in their first eight games), staying true to who they are will be key to the team's success this year, according to Kogut. 

"We're doing a lot of work this season with a sports psychologist who works with USA Field Hockey," Kogut said. "She's working with the team on just focusing on what we can control, and really holding on to the fundamentals that make us who we are throughout the season. I think when you're constantly grounding yourself back on what got you to where you are, it creates a very steady and consistent style of play and performance."