LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Elsa Copeland's goal in the third minute held up on Saturday as the No. 8 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team stayed undefeated with a 1-0 win over No. 13 Wesleyan at Campus Ave. Field. 

The Bobcats (6-0, 2-0 NESCAC) recorded their third consecutive shutout, the first time they've blanked three straight teams since 2017. Sophomore goalkeeper Ava Donohue (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) made a season-high four saves in the victory, including one in the final few seconds of action. 

Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season to put the Bobcats ahead for good. Junior captain Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) got the offense going by lofting a pass off a restart down the near side to senior captain Lucy Norris (Chicago). Norris took the ball to the goal line and fired a pass toward the cage. Senior captain Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg (Winchester, Mass.) directed it to Copeland at the far post and Copeland tapped it home for a 1-0 Bates lead with 12:20 left in the first quarter. It also marked Moloney-Kolenberg's team-leading third assist of the year.

Wesleyan (4-2, 0-2 NESCAC) didn't back down despite the early goal for the hosts. The Cardinals tallied 13 shots on the day to 10 for the Bobcats. But only four of those shots ended up on goal and Donohue turned them away every time. 

Bates had quite a few chances to add to the lead throughout the contest, earning 12 penalty corners to five for Wesleyan. The Cardinals held strong defensively as Audrey Pace matched Donohue with four saves.

Late in the contest, the Cardinals had multiple chances to tally the equalizer. They earned a penalty corner in the 56th minute but a Georgia Adams shot got blocked. Then a pair of Emily Adams attempts missed, with one going high and the other denied by Donohue with just three seconds remaining in the contest.

The Bobcats look to stay undefeated when they travel to No. 17 nationally ranked Bowdoin (5-0, 2-0 NESCAC) on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.