LEWISTON — In terms of quantity of shots, Bates couldn’t have asked for more in its lacrosse home opener Saturday against a possession-oriented team like NESCAC rival Trinity.

The Bobcats outshot the Bantams, 58-27 (26-16 on goal), but goalkeeper Mickey Zaverucha stood tall in net, turning aside 19 to secure Trinity’s first win of the year, 8-7, at Garcelon Field.

“Their goalie played great and we didn’t finish,” Bates coach Peter Lasagna said. “I’m going to predict that the tape is going to show that we had a lot of fantastic opportunities, including on extra-man (chances). We got the people that we wanted taking the shots taking great shots at point-blank range. We need to finish those shots.”

While the Bobcats probably would have liked a higher percentage of quality chances, lost in the sheer volume of their shots were some point-blank bids that they couldn’t convert.

Most of those were by sophomore Jack Allard. Lasagna started to get an idea it might not be the Bobcats’ day when his leading scorer repeatedly came up empty, whether it was due to Zaverucha’s quick feet and stick or rushing shots to try to beat them.

“(Allard) is one of our very best shooters. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him miss one of those, and he missed four of them today,” Lasagna said.

Allard and Conor Henrie scored two goals apiece for the Bobcats (1-3). Ben Preston led the Bantams (1-3) with three goals and an assist.

“We’ve been up here three of the last four years and every time we come up here it’s a dogfight,” Trinity coach Michael Higgins said. “I don’t think anything happened today that I didn’t expect. I expected a close game. We’ve had good goaltending our first four games. Good goaltending covers up a lot of mistakes.”

Bates’ frustration peaked late third/early fourth quarter, when Trinity killed off a two-minute penalty that included one of Allard’s point-blank misses to preserve a two-goal lead.

Seventeen seconds into the fourth, Michael Lofrese scored off a Preston cross to make it 8-5 Bantams.

Goals by Will Gilkeson and Allard rallied Bates to within one with 8:36 left. Allard appeared to tie the score when he stole Zaverucha’s outlet pass and fired it in the net. The referee waived it off, however, calling Allard for delay of game.

“It’s hard for me to say (whether it was a good call) without looking at it. I’ve never seen that call made before,” Lasagna said. “Obviously, emotionally, it was huge.”

Trinity made it sting a little more with Chase Growney’s insurance goal with 2:27 left.

It took the Bobcats a mere six seconds to recover, as Paul Donovan won the ensuing draw for Bates and quickly got the ball downfield to Jack Strain, who zipped his only goal past Zaverucha with 2:21 remaining.

Donovan won the next faceoff and Bates called a time out with 1:53 left. With just over a minute to go, Strain tried to beat Zaverucha top shelf but was denied.

Despite going a man down for tripping with 27.1 seconds left, Bates’ Dave Cappellini forced a turnover with 14 seconds left and the Bobcats took their last timeout with 8.1 seconds to go.

Trinity locked down the middle of the field, forcing Allard to try to beat the horn and Zaverucha from a tough angle. His shot went well wide.

Bates played most of the second half without senior midifielder Adam Binnie, who had to be helped off the field after injuring his right ankle.

“That’s a big loss,” Lasagna said. “He’s a senior. He’s good at his job. He keeps the defense organized. But we’re deep at that positions. That wasn’t the difference in the game.”

Wes Shrewsbury had the other Bates goal. Charlie Kazarian made eight saves for the Bobcats.

Bates won 13 of 18 faceoffs and 44 of 71 ground balls.

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