UNION, N.J. -- Bates men's lacrosse continued its strong start to the 2026 season Friday, pulling away from Kean University for a 15–6 road win in Alumni Stadium. The victory lifts the Bobcats to 2–0, coming on the heels of Wednesday's one-goal season-opening triumph at Union College.
After a back-and-forth opening quarter, Bates gradually took control and then broke the game open with a dominant second half, outscoring Kean 10–2 over the final 30 minutes.
The Cougars (1-2) struck first, but Bates responded with a man-up tally from
Connor Hartman at 12:08 of the opening quarter to even the score. The Bobcats briefly fell behind again before closing the frame with goals from
Riley McClure and
Charles Lowe in the final 3:23, sending the visitors into the second quarter with a 3–2 edge.
Kean opened the second period with a man-up goal to tie the contest, but Bates answered with a pair of tallies from
Gray Doyle and Hartman to regain momentum. The home team stayed within a goal late in the half, trimming the margin to 5–4 going into halftime, but the Bobcats seized full control after the break.
Bates erupted for four unanswered goals in the third quarter, beginning with Doyle's finish at 13:36 and capped by Hartman's third of the day with 1:24 remaining. The Bobcats carried a commanding 9–4 advantage into the fourth and never looked back.
Bates added six more goals in the final period, with Doyle (twice), McClure,
Xander Frey (twice)
and
Jack Goldbach all finding the net as the lead ballooned to nine. Doyle closed the scoring surge with his fourth goal of the afternoon at 2:57 before Goldbach finished the day with an unassisted marker at 1:55.
Doyle led all scorers with four goals and two assists, while Hartman and McClure each recorded hat tricks for the second-straight outing. Lowe chipped in two goals and an assist, and
Henry McCann orchestrated the offense with four assists to go along with a goal. Bates assisted on 13 of its 15 goals and produced scoring from seven different players.
Andrew Toland earned the win in goal, stopping 14 shots as the Bobcats won the ground ball battle (33–18) and finished a perfect 2-for-2 on extra-man opportunities. Bates won 16-of-24 face-offs.
Miles Schmidt accounted for 13 of the efforts and led all players with seven groundballs.
The garnet and white remains on the road for its next competition as Bates opens NESCAC play Saturday, Feb. 28 at Wesleyan. Start time is set for 1:00 p.m. in Middletown, Conn.
