Bates College

LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior captain Elsa Copeland recorded the first hat trick of her career and the No. 21 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team notched their fourth straight shutout with a 6-0 win over the University of New England Tuesday night at a rainy Campus Ave. Field.

Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) scored in the 13th, 31st, and 33rd minutes for the first three-goal game for a Bobcat since Paige Cote in 2023. 

Bates (8-3) earned a penalty corner late in the first quarter. Junior Caroline Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) delivered the insert and senior captain Amy LaBelle (Barrington, R.I.) ripped a shot on goal from the top of the circle. The ball got blocked by a UNE defender but Copeland was there to clean it up, scoring in a crowd for players for a 1-0 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bobcats outshot the Nor'easters (6-7) by a count of 11-1 but only led 1-0 at halftime.

That changed quickly early in the third quarter. First-year Sammy Logan (Mansfield, Mass.) delivered a feed into the middle of the circle and Copeland gathered the ball while surrounded by multiple UNE defenders. She was able to turn and fire a shot top shelf for a second tally, putting the Bobcats up 2-0 in the 31st minute.

In the 33rd minute, Copeland struck again. Junior Bella Bigelow (Alburgh, Vt.) fired a pass from deep in Bates' own end that found the stick of Logan. Logan turned and saw Copeland ahead of the defense. She was able to connect with Copeland and the junior captain sped by the UNE keeper. Copeland was able to simply tap the ball home from the left side for the hat trick. She leads the Bobcats with nine goals so far this season. 

Three different players scored in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin of victory for the Bobcats. 

Bates earned a penalty corner in the 47th minute. Nowak delivered the insert to LaBelle at the top of the circle and LaBelle found Bigelow on the left wing. Bigelow struck it by the keeper for her fourth goal of the year and her first not to come on a penalty stroke.

A great individual effort by senior captain Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) in the 51st minute resulted in the fifth goal of the night for Bates. Dwight the ball along the goal line on the right side into the circle and just kept going. She got close enough to the cage where she could shoot despite her almost parallel angle and she scored for her fourth tally of the season. 

Senior Sophie O'Sullivan (Wellesley, Mass.) capped off the scoring in the 53rd minute. One again the Bobcats took advantage of a penalty corner. Nowak delivered the insert to Dwight at the top of the circle. Dwight swung it left to LaBelle and her fellow senior captain took a shot that O'Sullivan redirected into the back of the cage for a 6-0 lead.

With her two assists on Tuesday, LaBelle increases her total to a team-high six assists on the year.

The Bobcats finished the game with 21 shots, 14 on goal. The Nor'easters recorded a pair of shots, with one on goal. Dwight made a defensive save in the 26th minute to turn away the lone on-target shot of the evening for UNE.

Bates earned seven penalty corners and scored on three of them. UNE only earned one penalty corner.

The Bobcats are back in action this Saturday when they welcome No. 1 nationally ranked Tufts to town. The showdown begins at noon.