CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Bates women's lacrosse opened the 2026 season Wednesday night on the West Coast, dropping a 19–15 decision to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Zinda Field.
The Bobcats set the tone early, striking first and producing five scores in the opening quarter.
Lauren Wong opened the season's scoring at 13:41 on a feed from
Laci Raveis, and Bates later surged ahead 5–3 following Wong's third tally of the frame with 2:22 remaining. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps responded in the closing minute to cut the margin to one after the opening 15 minutes.
Bates extended the lead to 6–4 early in the second quarter when Raveis finished off a feed from
Lucy Taylor. The Athenas followed with seven goals across the remainder of the quarter and carried an 11–9 advantage into halftime. Bates received second-quarter tallies from Raveis,
Caroline Keating, Wong, and
Grace Yonchak.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-0) opened the third quarter with three straight goals before Bates answered.
Samantha Collins scored unassisted at 9:57, Keating followed at 4:19, and
Sarah Stavrovich added her second of the night at 2:47. A late CMS finish in the final seconds sent the Bobcats into the fourth trailing 15–12.
Keating converted a man-up chance at 10:24 of the fourth to make it a three-goal game. Collins later scored on a duplicate scenario at 4:33, assisted by
Grace Cassin. Clare McGeever capped Bates' scoring at 1:36 on a feed from Taylor.
Wong and Keating paced the Bates attack with four scores apiece. Stavrovich and Collins each added two, while Raveis totaled one score and four assists. Taylor and Cassin both finished with two assists.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps dominated the draw, 32–4, over the course of the contest with Junior Julia Ryan (Issaquah, Wash.) collecting 27 of those draw controls. Senior Cate Lewison (Seattle, Wash.) topped the victors with four goals.
Raegan White (30:00, nine saves) and
Molly Urbonas (30:00, five saves) split the goalkeeping duties for the garnet and white.
Bates (0-1) closes out its trip Friday with a 1:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. PST) contest at the University of Redlands.
