CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Bates women’s track and field team finished third out of 51 scoring teams at the 2008 ECAC Divsion III Indoor Championships at Harvard University on Saturday.

The Bobcats scored 42 pionts and were only half a point behind MIT for second place, while Moravian won the team title with 56 points.

Bates scored big in both the 20-pound weight throw and the 500-meter dash. In the weight throw, sophomore Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan of Topsham finished second (55-05), and senior captain Cassandra Kirkland of Greene placed third (51-08) for a combined 14-team points.

Junior captain Izzy Alexander won the 500-meter dash in a time of 1:17.40 to score 10 team points.

Men’s track

McNeil lead Bates’ men

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Bates sophomore Rich McNeil placed fifth in the 35-pound weight throw to lead the Bobcats at the 2008 ECAC Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Harvard on Saturday.

McNeil notched a top throw of 55-02, fifth best out of a field of 23 competitors, scoring four team points to bring the team total to eight for the meet.

Women’s lacrosse

Trinity 18, Colby 15

HARTFORD, Conn. – Rachel Romanowsky and C.J. Yanofsky scored five goals apiece in a steady rain to lift Trinity to an 18-15 victory over Colby in the season opener for both teams in women’s lacrosse action Saturday.

The Bantams (1-0) never trailed and scored the final three goals of the first half for an 11-7 lead at intermission.

The Mules (0-1) had trailed 8-3 at one point before scoring four straight to cut the lead to 8-7 with 6:09 remaining in the first half. All-American Kate Sheridan led the Mules with six goals and two assists, while Caroline Atwater had three goals in her first collegiate game for Colby.

Women’s hockey

Colby 3, Middlebury 2

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Liz Osgood scored 13:16 into overtime to lift Colby College to an upset victory over top-seeded Middlebury College in a NESCAC semifinals women’s hockey matchup on Saturday.

Becky Julian’s shot was saved, but Osgood pounced on the rebound and knocked in the game-winning goal on a power play to send the fourth-seeded Mules (15-8-3) to the league finals for the first time in program history.

Softball

Penn State 5, Maine 1

CLEARWATER, Fla. – The University of Maine Black Bears dropped a 5-1 decision to Penn State in softball action at the EC Moore Complex in the 2008 USF Under Amour Invitational on Saturday.

The Black Bears (0-16) trailed 5-0 heading into the seventh, but found a ray of hope when Alexis Souhlaris led off with a walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches.

Stephanie George followed three batters later by drawing an RBI bases-loaded walk with no outs. But, the next three batters struck out, popped out and struck out to conclude the game. Souhlaris got the start in the pitching circle for the Black Bears, but was pulled after three innings of work. She yielded five runs on seven hits with no strikeouts or walks, and suffered the loss.

Men’s lacrosse

Colby 9, Williams 8

WATERVILLE – Drew Piekarski scored in the second overtime period to lift Colby College to a 9-8 season-opening victory over Williams College in men’s lacrosse action on Saturday.

The Mules (1-0) led 1-0 after the first period and had a 4-1 lead before the Ephs (0-1) battled back to tie the game at four at halftime.

Caddy Brooks finished with three goals and one assist for Colby.

Men’s hockey

Trinity 2, Colby 1

WATERVILLE – Trinity College scored two early goals and held on as the Bantams took a 2-1 win over top-seeded Colby College in a NESCAC semifinal game at Alfond Rink on Saturday.

Adam Houli scored 3:35 into the first period off a breakaway to get the Bantams (14-10-2) on the board first. Christopher Diozzi, who had an assist on Houli’s goal, tallied at 12:59 on a power play to put Trinity up 2-0 after one period.

Maine 2, UMass-Lowell 1

ORONO – Travis Ramsey scored 2:20 into overtime to lift the University of Maine to a 2-1 win over the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in men’s hockey action on Saturday.

The River Hawks (15-15-4) scored first when Ben Holmstrom found the back of the net at 3:25 of the first period.

Billy Ryan (Milton, Mass.) evened the score for the Black Bears (13-18-3) at 17:59 of the first period with his sixth goal of the year with an assist from Tanner House.

Goalile Ben Bishop made 20 saves to record his 13th win of the season. Carter Hutton stopped 19 shots for the River Hawks and suffered his second straight defeat.

Men’s basketball

Brandeis 68, Bowdoin 53

WALTHAM, Mass. – Kevin Olson scored 15 points in a well-balanced attack to lead Brandeis University to a 68-53 victory over Bowdoin College in men’s basketball action Saturday.

The Judges (22-5) spread out their offense among several starters. Joe Coppens contributed 14 points, while Terrell Hollins pitched in with 11 points.

The Polar Bears (22-7) were paced by the team-leading Jordan Fliegel with 15 points.

, while Mark Phillips nailed down 12 points and Andrew Hippert tossed in 10 points.