Life wasn’t quite that much of a breeze against traditionally tough non-conference rival Babson, but the end result at Garcelon Field was refreshingly familiar.
Greenstein scored four goals, Jeffrey made seven saves, and Bates used a prolific run at the end of the first half to establish the cushion in a 12-7 victory.
“We’ve definitely come a long way in the past two weeks,” Greenstein, who has racked up 16 goals and nine assists in four games, said. “We’re reliant on wanting to have a lot of assists on goals, and we’re definitely trying to be a transition team. If that clicks this year I think we’re going to have even more goals.”
Bates, which shut out Wesleyan in its home and conference debut on Saturday, is 4-0 for the first time since 2003. The Bobcats knocked off the Beavers for the third consecutive year.
“Anytime you can start undefeated three, four or five games into the season, it’s a nice thing to build a good foundation,” Bates coach Brett Allen said, “but we’ve sort of been preaching that every day is a new day and that you have to own it to earn it later.”
Sydney Howard and Sydney Cowles added two goals apiece for Bates. Drew Barry and Emma Brinkman each notched a goal and an assist. Teal Otley and Alex Briody scored, as well.
Five different players found the net during a 7-1 run over the final 22 minutes of the first half after Babson bolted to an early 3-1 advantage.
Those tallies by Julia Harrigan, Katie McKenna and Annie Arthur matched the number of goals Jeffrey and the Bobcats allowed in their two previous contests, combined.
“Hannah wasn’t seeing the ball well early, and then she made a lot of really nice saves as the defense kind of got their feet under them a little bit,” Allen said. “Being at home for the first time under the lights might have played into it. There were some external variables there that we hadn’t dealt with yet. I was proud of them. We dealt with it really well.”
Otley offered up a free-position goal to trigger the rally. Greenstein pulled Bates even with a brilliant spinning maneuver from behind the cage to beat Babson goalie Stevie Burger.
Howard rushed through traffic to give Bates its first lead. Lyndsay Giroux tied it again for Babson (1-1) before Howard put the Bobcats ahead to stay with another scamper up the middle at the 12:32 mark.
That was the first of three consecutive goals in an 89-second span, with Barry and Greenstein getting into the act.
“It’s not only our speed,” Greenstein said of Bates’ explosiveness, “but also seeing the next pass, so if you’re that next pass, making that cut and getting yourself open.”
Erin Shea, Cara Cappellini and Mikaela Bradley lightened the workload for Jeffrey by breaking up several Babson shots shy of the mark during a shutout streak of 23:03.
Briody capped the first half with a free-position goal, and Greenstein brought Bates out of the break with an unassisted tally to make it 9-4.
Babson twice crept within three goals in the second half. Steals by Camille Belletete and Allison Dewey led directly to goals by Greenstein and Cowles to put the Bobcats back in command.
“We’re pretty good down there. Especially since that shutout on Saturday, we give (the defense) a lot of credit,” Greenstein said.
Arthur bolstered Babson with a hat trick. Jacki Merrigan also scored for the Beavers.
Bates hosts traditional NESCAC and national power Amherst at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Bobcats are a far cry from the team that lost 14-6 at Amherst a year ago.
“Ten seniors, five juniors, so more than half our roster has been around two-plus years, which is a great thing to have,” Allen said. “Regardless of the sport, it helps to have kids who have some experience and have been around the block a little bit.”
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