LEWISTON, Maine -- Nine different Bobcats found the back of the cage and the No. 22 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team defeated the University of Southern Maine 10-1 Tuesday night to start the 2023 campaign in style at Campus Avenue Field. 

Junior Maria Femia (Canton, Mass.) led the way for Bates (1-0), scoring a pair of goals and dishing out an assist as well.

Femia got the scoring started in the ninth minute of action when senior captain Paige Cote (Auburn, Maine) split four defenders with a centering pass from the end line to Femia, who took advantage of an open look for the first goal of the season for Bates. 

However, the Huskies (1-1) answered later in the first quarter. Brooke Carson was able to score from distance after Bates goalkeeper Kaili Jacobsen (Fairfield, Conn.) made a play on the ball, kicking it away from a Husky, only to see it end up on the stick of Carson, and she ripped it home for the second goal of her season.

With the score knotted at one through one, the Bobcats took control in the second quarter.

Four Bobcats tallied their first career goals in Tuesday's victory, and the first of them proved to be the game-winning score. Senior captain Molly Griffin (Holden, Mass.) is a defender who is handling the penalty corners this year for Bates. In the 20th minute of action, the Bobcats earned a penalty corner, so Griffin took center stage. The initial play got broken up but Femia was eventually able to find Griffin for the go-ahead goal, the first of her career. 

The Bobcats didn't waste any time adding to the lead. First-year Kate McManaman (Washington, D.C.) was able to take advantage of a break-away and delivered a perfect feed to Cote for the insurance tally in the 22nd minute.

Then it was Cote's turn to pick up an assist, her second of the game, when she found senior Kami Lambert (Augusta, Maine) with a good cross from the end line to the far post in the 25th minute. 

The scoring burst from Bates gave the hosts a 4-1 halftime lead.

They didn't give any ground in the third quarter, with junior Anna Lindeis (New Canaan, Conn.) finding the back of the cage on an assist from senior captain Sarah Bussell (Thompson's Station, Tenn.) just 3:50 into the second half. Then in the 39th minute, McManaman tallied her first collegiate goal, picking up the loose change after an initial save by the USM keeper.

Sophomore Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) got in on the act with a sharp goal from the top of the circle on an assist from sophomore Lucy Norris (Chicago) in the 44th minute, making the score 7-1 in favor of the Bobcats through three quarters of action.

Femia opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with her second goal of the game. Her initial attempt was denied by USM keeper Lainey Bell, but Femia stuck with it and snuck it by for an 8-1 Bates lead. 

Then in the 52nd minute, senior Lauren Salazar (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) unleashed a rocket from the right wing for her first career goal. Bates capped off the scoring in the final minute of action, thanks to a great move from Moloney-Kolenberg to break away from the defense on the near side, before she found rookie Sophie Jullienne (Hong Kong, China) for the latter's first career goal.

Bates tallied 36 shots, with 23 on goal in the victory. The Bobcats held USM to just two shots and won the penalty corner battle 9-2. 

Bates field hockey is back in action Thursday when the Bobcats host Thomas College at 7pm.