MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- In a game marred by a 90-minute weather delay, the No. 21 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team fell 3-1 at No. 12 Wesleyan on Saturday in NESCAC play.
The Bobcats (3-3, 1-3 NESCAC) recorded just two shots on goal in the contest, as the Cardinals (4-2, 1-2 NESCAC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead through three quarters and held on from there.
Junior defender
Caroline Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) got Bates on the board in the 49th minute. She delivered the insert on a penalty corner and senior captain
Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) fired a shot toward the cage. Nowak was there to deflect it home for her first tally of the season and the eighth of her career.
Nowak's goal briefly cut the Cardinal lead to 2-1. But Wesleyan had the answer. In the 52nd minute, the Cardinals earned a penalty corner of their own. Marley Procopio delivered the insert to Meera Patel, who stopped the ball for Natalie Shaw. The latter was able to find the back of the cage for her second goal of the game.
The Bobcats earned a couple more penalty corners down the stretch but both shot attempts got blocked.
Shaw also scored in the 40th minute. Teddy Tolbert opened the scoring in the 22nd minute and Patel finished the game with three assists.
Bates is back in action on Wednesday when the Bobcats visit Wellesley. The game gets underway at 6 p.m.
