LEWISTON — A game that was as close as 5-2 after 24 minutes turned into a 21-3 blowout for the Bates women’s lacrosse team as it faced Saint Joseph’s College of Maine for the first time in team history Monday afternoon at Garcelon Field.

Bates’ win raised the host Bobcats’ record this season to 3-3, while the visiting Monks fell to the same mark.

Bates got out to a 5-0 lead with 16:32 remaining in the first half, but the Bobcats attack slowed down temporarily, while the Monks made things interesting with back-to-back goals by leading scorer Cassie Diplock at the 9:48 and 7:22 marks of the half.

Bates first-year Cameron Griffin ) broke a 12-minute scoring lull for the Bobcats with an unassisted tally with 4:41 to go in the first, beginning a streak of 15 unanswered goals by the Bobcats, a run that extended until 8:12 remained in the second half. Diplock completed her hat trick by closing the gap to 20-3 with 5:48 left to play.

Bates first-year Kelan McCann led a rookie-dominated scoring parade with four goals and three assists. Her seven points in the game were four more than her season’s total entering the game.

Fellow rookies Alex Briody (2 goals, 3 assists, Moriah Greenstein (3 goals, 1 assist), Emma Noto (2 goals), Emma Brinkman (1 goal, 1 assist), Griffin (1 goal) and Kara Le (1 goal) combined for 22 of Bates’ total 31 points in the game.

Veteran scorers for Bates were junior Wally Pierce (2 goals), sophomore Emma Getsinger (2 goals), sophomore Kathy Yannpoulos (1 goal, 1 assist), junior Bridget Meedzan (1 goal, 1 assist) and junior Blair Shrewsbury (1 goal).

Junior Haley Nason made 10 saves for St. Joe’s. sophomore Kirstin McCombs had a game-high six draw controls, and junior Macy Pagurko assisted on Diplock’s first goal.

UMF’s Allen named NAC rookie of week

FARMINGTON —  University of Maine at Farmington freshman Ayla Allen  of Rumford led the UMF women’s lacrosse team in goals, shots, groundballs, draw controls, and caused turnovers over two games last weekend —  a performance that did not go unnoticed as she was named the North Atlantic Conference Women’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Week on Monday afternoon.

Allen, a midfielder, charted two goals and an assist in the Beavers’ 20-4 loss at MIT on Saturday. She scooped up a team-leading four groundballs and had two draw controls versus the Engineers.

In Sunday’s squeaker at Regis College, a 12-11 loss, Allen tallied two goals and was credited with eight ground balls. She also registered four caused turnovers.

Allen finished the week with four goals and one assist for five points on 15 shots, with 12 ground balls, eight draw controls, and four caused turnovers.

This is the second straight week a UMF women’s lacrosse player as captured the conference’s Rookie of the Week award; freshman Mara Balboni earned the honor last week. Balboni also acquitted herself well in week two of the regular season, logging three goals and two assists for five points on seven shots.

The Beavers are 1-2 overall, with a pair of games slated for this week. UMF will travel to Gorham, Maine, on Wednesday, March 20, to play the University of Southern Maine, and will return to Massachusetts on Saturday, March 23, to face Becker College.