HADLEY, Mass. -- The Bates field hockey coaching staff has been honored as the best in the NESCAC, junior captain Haley Dwight is the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, and three Bobcats were selected to the All-NESCAC teams, as announced Tuesday by the New England Small College Athletic Conference. 

Bates coaches Dani Kogut, Kelly McManus '12, and Ian Wagge earned the NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year Award for leading the No. 4 nationally ranked Bobcats to their first NESCAC championship and the most wins in one season (15 and counting) in program history. On Sunday, the Bobcats found out they'd earned one of the top four seeds in the upcoming NCAA tournament. They will host NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games this Saturday and Sunday at Campus Ave. Field. 

Kogut is in her 13th year as the head coach of the Bates field hockey program and has led Bates to a winning record in seven of the past nine seasons. The Bobcats have increased their win total every year dating back to 2021. They made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2023 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history in 2024. McManus is in her second season as an assistant coach at Bates and Wagge is in his sixth year.

Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.), senior captain Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.), and sophomore Elsa Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) pick up All-NESCAC honors for the first time in their respective careers.

Dwight, along with being named first team All-NESCAC, is the first Bobcat player to win a major award from the conference in program history, earning Defensive Player of the Year. Her eight defensive saves rank first in the NESCAC and is tied for 15th in the country. She also scored the eventual game-winning goal earlier this year against Colby and has tallied two assists this season. Dwight anchors a Bates defense that's held opponents to just one goal per game on the year, the second-best mark in the conference.

Moloney-Kolenberg is also a first team All-NESCAC selection. She leads the Bobcats in both goals (10) and assists (6) this year. The team captain also converted both her attempts in crucial post-season shootouts, as Bates defeated Hamilton in the NESCAC quarterfinals and Middlebury in the NESCAC semifinals. Moloney-Kolenberg scored the eventual game-winning goal in the NESCAC championship game and also dished out an assist in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals. 

Copeland earns second team All-NESCAC honors. The speedy two-sport athlete stars for the women's lacrosse team in the spring and is second on the field hockey team this fall in both goals (6) and assists (5) while often sparking the offense in transition. 

Bates plays the winner of Amherst vs. Stevens this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Campus Ave. Field in the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA tournament.