NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Two different Bobcats found the back of the cage and the No. 21 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team blanked Connecticut College 2-0 Saturday afternoon in NESCAC action.
The Bobcats (7-3, 3-3 NESCAC) picked up another shutout, their fourth of the season and their third in a row. Junior
Ava Donohue (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) notched six saves in the cage for Bates. The Camels (3-7, 1-7 NESCAC) earned 11 penalty corners to nine for Bates, but the Bobcats turned them away every time.
After a scoreless first quarter, Bates struck in the 16th minute. The Bobcats earned a penalty corner and junior
Caroline Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) delivered the insert to senior captain
Amy LaBelle (Barrington, R.I.) and in a sequence that has become familiar to Bobcat fans in recent weeks, LaBelle found senior captain
Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) for the latter's third goal of the season. LaBelle now sports a team-high four assists.
Up 1-0 at halftime, the Bobcats added to their lead in the third quarter. Once again, Nowak delivered the insert on a penalty corner and this time senior
Elena Agosti (North Andover, Mass.) connected with junior captain
Elsa Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) for the insurance tally in the 37th minute. Agosti ripped a shot from the top of the circle that Copeland deflected home for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. It's Agosti's first assist of the year.
Donohue was outstanding for Bates, stopping a penalty stroke from Connecticut College's Maddie Mason in the 49th minute for her most impressive save of the afternoon. She made three of her six saves in the fourth quarter.
This marks the 10th straight win and third straight shutout for Bates field hockey over Connecticut College.
Bates is back in action this Tuesday at 6 p.m. when the Bobcats host the University of New England at Campus Ave. Field.
