MEDFORD, Mass. -- The Bates field hockey team recorded their third consecutive shutout and senior captain Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg scored the eventual game-winning goal as the Bobcats defeated Wesleyan 2-0 on Sunday to secure the program's first NESCAC championship. 

With the victory, Bates (15-3) breaks the program record for wins in one season and becomes the first NESCAC field hockey team to record three shutouts in the 26-year history of the conference tournament. Sophomore goalkeeper Ava Donohue (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) made 11 more saves on Sunday to once again stymie the opposition as the Cardinals (14-4) could not score despite tallying 26 shots. 

"The last 30 seconds of the game I didn't even know how to feel," Bates head coach Dani Kogut said. "Standing next to our assistant coach and alumna Kelly McManus '12 was just really special and to have that moment with her was incredible." 

The Bobcats got on the board in the eighth minute of action and never looked back. Junior Elena Agosti (North Andover, Mass.) fed the ball into the middle of the shooting area, where Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) was waiting. A Wesleyan defender initially got her stick on the ball but the senior captain took it away, swerved through the defense and beat Wesleyan keeper Audrey Pace for her team-leading 10th goal of the season. 

"That goal set a great tone for the rest of the game," Moloney-Kolenberg said. "We kept hunting and kept getting more opportunities." 

A perfectly executed penalty corner in the 27th minute produced the second goal of the game for Bates. Sophomore Caroline Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) delivered the insert to the top of the circle. Senior Summer Gordon (North Andover, Mass.) fed the ball to her right and Moloney-Kolenberg somehow one-timed it through the defense to the left post. Nowak was there and she finished with authority for her fifth goal of the season.

The Bobcats only recorded six shots (four on goal) in the contest, but their efficiency proved to be the difference. Wesleyan's 26 shots (11 on goal) rarely had a chance of going in, as Donohue and the Bates defense turned in yet another sparkling performance.

Wesleyan also earned 14 penalty corners to just four for the Bobcats. But it didn't matter. Time after time, defenders like junior captain Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) and classmate Amy LaBelle (Barrington, R.I.) poked and prodded the ball away from the Cardinals. And when they did get a shot off, Donohue had no trouble kicking the ball away.

"The key to success on defense is being loud and confident," Donohue said. "I knew we had this game from the first time we touched the ball today. We are constantly yelling nonsense. We think it gets in the other team's heads and keeps us aggressive and on top of it." 

The Bobcats host either Stevens or Amherst in the second round of the NCAA tournament next Saturday at 11 a.m. They earned a bye for the first time in program history thanks to being one of the top four seeds in the field of 28 teams and will be making their third straight appearance in the "Big Dance."

It's been a remarkable rise to a school-record 15 wins and counting this year for a program that had 14 wins combined the four seasons prior to Kogut taking over the reins back in 2013.

"I'm just so proud to be a Bobcat," Kogut said. "I'm so grateful to everyone who supported us from back when we were 4-11 (in 2014) to today. That village has been here throughout, so we really appreciate it all."