By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – The return of an All-New England performer to a record-setting men’s soccer team and an All-American men’s tennis player provide an optimistic air to the dawning fall sports season at Bates College.

On the field, Terence O’Connell punctuated his junior season with team highs of 10 goals and 24 points, helping the Bobcats match the school single-season mark with 10 victories. On the court, Wil Boe-Wiegaard is set to begin his final fall campaign after capping the spring season as runner-up in the NCAA Division III singles championships.

Here’s a thumbail prospectus of Bates fall sports:

Cross country

Local runners Steve Monsulick of Kents Hill and Matt Dunlap of Farmington will combine with senior Dan Johnson to lead the men. Johnson placed in the top 50 at the 2004 NCAA Division III championship. On the women’s side, Jennifer “Jay” Hartshorn takes over for longtime coach Carolyn Court, who led the cross country and track programs for 26 years.

Men’s soccer

O’Connell earned second-team honors on last year’s New England all-star squad as voted by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The forward from Greenwich, Conn., also was a NESCAC first-teamer as Bates (10-4-1) ranked fifth in the conference before falling to Wesleyan in the league quarterfinals.

Six of Bates’ top eight scorers return, including seniors O’Connell and midfielder David Shear (four goals, two assists). David Morin also will provide offensive punch for the Bobcats after scoring seven goals as a freshman.

Defensively, the lone Maine player on the roster, Eben Sypitkowski of Bangor, plays a vital role after starting all 15 games of his junior campaign at fullback. Sophomore Aaron Schleicher takes over in goal.

Women’s soccer

Kim Alexander and Meg Coffin return for their junior seasons after winning All-New England honors last fall. Coffin, a fullback, anchored a defense that produced seven shutouts in Bates’ 9-4-2 campaign. Alexander, a forward from Cumberland, shared the team lead in scoring with 17 points and was second on the squad with seven goals.

Jessie Gargiulo, also a junior, topped the Bobcats with eight goals last fall. Coffin contributed four goals, including a hat trick against UNE.

Sophomore Emily Howieson is back after crafting a 0.91 goals against average.

Field hockey

The Bobcats hope to build on last year’s three-win campaign with the return of their top seven scorers. And the outlook for next year and beyond is even brighter, because Brooke Anable is the only senior in that group. Liz Greenwood, Erin Chandler and Carolyn King also look to ignite an offense that averaged just over a goal per game last season.

Elsewhere

Boe-Wieggard and sophomore Cecilia Grissa lead the men’s and women’s tennis teams, who play an abbreviated autumn schedule … Tri-captain Jasmine McDavid hopes to direct women’s volleyball to its eighth consecutive winning season … Alex Jacobson showed promise as a freshman as Bates’ top performer at last year’s New England Intercollegiate Golf Championships … Sophomore rower Christian Ford had a productive summer, winning a silver medal at the U.S. Rowing nationals. Nicholas Lobozzo of New Gloucester is also part of the Bates crew.