Roger Williams goalie Lydia Nelson has no chance to make a save as Bates’ Allison Dewey slips through the defense and fires a shot into the back of the net for a first-half goal during Thursday’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

LEWISTON — With its offense scuffling the last couple of games and the heart of its conference schedule on the horizon, Bates wanted to seize momentum early in Thursday’s non-conference women’s lacrosse game with Roger Williams.

The Bobcats scored on four of their first five shots and kept the Hawks from tilting the field by dominating possession for most of their 13-5 win at Garcelon Field.

Senior attack Teal Otley, of Cumberland, led the Bobcats (4-3) with three goals and an assist, while Annie Duke, Camille Belletete and Katie Allard added two goals and an assist each to help the Bobcats snap a two-game losing streak.

Belletete netted two of the Bobcats’ first three goals, including the icebreaker just 34 seconds into the game. 

“We really work on coming out with a lot of energy and coming out strong, looking for fast breaks, and I think today was one of those days we had a lot of energy to start off the game,” said Allard, a junior attack.

“We’ve been working on finishing our shots as well,” Otley said, “so that was rewarding to have so many of our first shots go in.”

Even with the quick goal, Bates remained patient on offense before doubling its lead when Allard connected with Otley, who fired over Hawks’ goalie Lydia Nelson’s right shoulder and into the net from five yards out.

“I was out on the far side and Teal was wide open in the middle,” Allard said. “We were good at capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes.”

Roger Williams (4-2) called a time out to regroup, but couldn’t cool off the Bobcats, who made it 3-0 10 seconds later.

Belletete won the ensuing draw and worked a nice give-and-gol with Otley. Belletete never stopped running down the middle of the field after her pass to Otley on the left wing and, after getting the ball back, beat Nelson to the lower left corner.

Goals by Duke and Allison Dewey made it 5-0 Bates before Carly Martin (two goals) finally got Roger Williams on the board midway through the first half.

Bates outshot Roger Williams, 16-9 in the first half, and 24-21 for the game. The Bobcats also won the turnover (24-18), draw control (14-6) and ground ball (22-14) battles to control the tempo.

“Our re-defend looked really good,” Otley said. “We were able to get a lot of caused turnovers to get the ball back to maintain possession.”

“Our team definitely did a great job of controlling tempo and controlling draws and possession time,” Bates coach Brett Allen said. “It was one of those games where the score didn’t indicate how well we were playing. I never felt like the game was in-hand, if you will.”

The Bobcats helped make Allen and themselves a little more comfortable by converting on three of four free position shots. Duke netted the first to extend the lead to 7-1.

Bates led 8-2 at halftime and scored the first four goals of the second half, from Otley, Summer Dias, Margaret Smith and Allard. 

Junior Eliza Statile made eight saves in goal for the Bobcats.

Bates, which is 0-3 in NESCAC and 4-0 non-conference, resumes its conference schedule Saturday at Williams. After another road game at St. Joseph’s, the Bobcats end the regular season with six conference games, starting with Hamilton at home on March 31.

Allen was glad to see his team focused for Thursday’s game and hopes it translates into the Bobcats being sharper for the final month of the regular season.

“Sometimes non-conference games are games that come during the mid-week and maybe the team overlooks them,” Allen said. “We’ve been working on some things that we were able to do in the game tonight that hopefully will help us in the next tough stretch we’ve got.”

Roger Williams’ Lauren Flahive, left and Bates’ Avery Prince vye for a loose ball during Thursday’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Bates College’s Caroline Kerrigan, foreground, looks for a teammate to pass to as Roger Williams’ Paige Byrne bears down on her during Thursday’s game at Garcelon Field in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Roger Williams’ Kaelin Hogan, left and Bates’ Camille Belletete battle for a faceoff during Thursday’s game in Lewiston. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

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