LEWISTON — The Cote sisters paced the 10th-ranked Bates Bobcats to another victory Saturday.
Junior Anna Cote scored two goals and older sister Paige also found the back of the cage in Bates’ 4-1 senior day victory over Connecticut College in a NESCAC field hockey game at Campus Avenue Field.
The Cote sisters are from Auburn and are St. Dominic Academy graduates.
“It’s always great to score, but we are happy that we got the win, and it was a full team effort,” Paige Cote said. “We are really happy that we have a great team this year, and anyone can score — everyone is a shooter.”
Bates (9-4, 5-3 NESCAC) grabbed a quick lead on a goal by Kami Lambert early in the game.
Paige Cote, a senior, made it 2-0 lead at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter when there was a scramble in the circle and she put home the loose ball.
“The goalie made the initial save off of someone’s shot — maybe it was on my third try; I finally pulled around her and tucked it in,” Paige Cote said.
Anna Cote put the Bobcats up 3-0 late in the second when she fired a shot past Connecticut College (5-9, 1-8) starting goalie Liz Winemaster.
“She has a super hard shot, accurate, and she works on it a ton,” Bates coach Dani Kogut said.
The Camels put pressure on Bates in the third quarter. They got five penalty corners in the quarter. Shots, though, were hard to come by. They had only two in the period.
Connecticut College coach Chrissy Chappell said Bates had an advantage defending on artificial turf.
“They ran two different corner defenses, we noticed,” Chappell said. “We were trying to mix up what we ran, but it’s a challenge against a team that plays on this surface. It’s hard to break through sometimes, and I think our execution wasn’t as tight as it can be.”
Anna Cote’s long-distance shot got through traffic and beat Camels backup goalie Sophie Moniz (one save), extending Bates’ lead to 4-0 early in the fourth quarter.
“I work really hard on my shot,” Anna Cote said. “I think I found space at the top of the circle and I did what I always do — my position is really to hit the ball, and hopefully the forwards can get a touch. I just found space at the top of the circle and I took a shot.”
Bates was 11 seconds from a shutout, but Bridget McCann roofed a shot past Bobcats goalie Kaili Jacobsen (three saves) for the Camels’ only goal.
SMART START
The Bobcats’ offense got off to an early start. On their first penalty corner of the game, Lauren Salazar’s shot was deflected into the goal by Lambert 1:26 into the contest.
“I think it was super important, we have been practicing our corners all week,” Lambert, a Cony High School graduate, said. “Being on the post is something we strive to do every single game. Being on the post, and having your stick low and watching it hit your stick and go in the net is the best feeling ever.”
Kogut said the goal wasn’t the result of a designed play. Instead, it was the result of the Bobcats adapting to the situation.
“The ball didn’t come out like we thought,” Kogut said. “So, they reacted to it and made a really smart pass to the right. Lauren put in a great shot, and Kami was there to finish it on the post. I think that’s what corners are sometimes, reacting to what you see.”
The Bobcats controlled the possession for most of the first quarter. They had three corners in a row in the middle of the period but didn’t get a shot past Winemaster (four saves).
However, Chappell said, after the early goal Bates was clearly in a groove.
“When you give up a goal early, that does is put you on your heels a little bit,” Chappell said. “We were executing our game plan, in terms of what we wanted to do coming out of the (backfield). When you give that one, you have to bounce back and get one. If you don’t, they just gain more confidence at home, especially on a day like today for them.”
The Bobcats are back in action Sunday at Campus Avenue Field when they host the ninth-ranked Williams College (9-4, 6-2) at noon.
They finish the regular season at home against Colby (0-9, 4-10) on Tuesday night, then begin the NESCAC tournament on Saturday, Oct. 28. The top four seeds will host quarterfinals.
Bates is currently a half-game ahead of Bowdoin, Amherst and Wesleyan for the fourth seed. The Bobcats hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Bowdoin and Wesleyan, but Amherst defeated Bates in their meeting last month.
The Bobcats are a game behind Williams (9-4, 6-2) for third place and a game and a half back of Tufts (10-4, 7-2) for second.
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