’Cats Eat Birds; Women’s Lacrosse Beats Wesleyan

    An 18-3 demolition of the University of New England (UNE) on March 17 was just icing on the cake for the women’s lacrosse team, who earned their first NESCAC win this Saturday against Wesleyan in a 5-goal comeback. Bates won 14-13.
The Bobcats trailed their conference rivals 13-9 with only 16:42 left to play when the Bobcat offense embarked on a 5-goal scoring spree, clinching the lead with only 16 seconds remaining on the clock. Senior Co-Captain Caroline Thomas netted 6 goals on the afternoon, including the game winner.
Wesleyan took the first lead of the game, boasting a 2-0 advantage early on. An impressive 6-goal rebuttal from the Bobcats brought the score to 6-2. By the half, the Cardinals had narrowed the gap, trailing 8-6.
Maggie Reilly ’12 netted the Bobcat’s ninth goal to begin the second half. Unfortunately, Reilly’s goal wasn’t enough to crush the opposition’s spirit, and the Cardinals continued to press on, taking a 13-9 lead with just over half of the period to go.
With 14 minutes and change on the clock, scoring phenom Thomas began what was soon to be an unanswered 5-goal spree that would carry the Bobcats to their first conference victory. First-year Caroline Pierce netted goals number 11 and 13 around a 12th delivered by first-year Joan O’Neil. Thomas’ sixth and final goal of the afternoon was lucky number 14 for Bates. She found the back of the net off of a pass from sophomore Abby Saucier.
“We just played really well as a unit,” said Co-Captain Lauren Kruck. “I think that everyone realized how bad the last two losses have hurt and everyone stepped it up to finish.”
Tuesday’s game against UNE gave the Bobcat rookies and vets alike a chance to stretch their legs and show their talent. Saucier was the star-scorer for the afternoon, notching 3 goals and 1 assist. First-years Lindsay Thompson, O’Neil and Pierce buried two goals apiece for Bates. Both goalkeepers got time between the pipes.
After this week’s duo of W’s, the team stands 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the NESCAC. The team plays Babson on the road this Wednesday, followed by a conference game against Amherst at home this Saturday afternoon.

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