WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The No. 5 nationally ranked Bates field hockey team's defense held strong for as long as they could, but the No. 11 Williams College Ephs scored a pair of goals in the third quarter to defeat the Bobcats 2-0 Sunday morning in NESCAC action.
Winning at Williams (1-0, 1-0 NESCAC) has been a tall order in recent years, as Bates (0-1, 0-1 NESCAC) falls to 1-13 in Williamstown over the past 25 seasons.
The Ephs broke through in the 37th minute, with Katie Sigrist finding Haley McAuslin for the first goal of the day. They followed that up just over a minute later, with Leah Hong connecting with Keira Harder for a tally off a penalty corner.
Rookie goalkeeper
Naeve Lustig (West Vancouver, British Columbia) gave it her all in her collegiate debut, making six saves on eight shots. Senior captain
Haley Dwight (West Newbury, Mass.) picked up right where she left off last year, recording a pair of defensive saves.
But the Bobcats simply did not possess the ball for the vast majority of the game. Williams tallied 20 shots (10 on goal) to just one shot for the visitors. An attempt from junior captain
Elsa Copeland (Toronto, Ontario) got blocked in the 40th minute. It's the fewest shots taken by the Bobcats in a game since they recorded a lone attempt at Middlebury in 2021. The Bobcats failed to earn a penalty corner in the contest, the first time that's happened since the same Middlebury game five years ago.
Bates blanked Williams in the first half, despite the Ephs recording eight shots in the opening 30 minutes. The Bobcats turned away eight penalty corners from Williams in the first half and the Ephs finished the game having earned 15 penalty corners. However, they only converted one.
The Bobcats hope to bounce back Wednesday when they host No. 15 Bowdoin at 7 p.m. on Campus Ave. Field.
