No. 10 Colby tops No. 10 women's lacrosse, setting up rematch for NESCACs

Allison Dewey and Sydney Cowles go after the ball in Bates' 8-6 loss to Colby on April 27, 2016. (Josh Kuckens/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- A regular-season finale pitting rivals with identical records and No. 10 national rankings went Colby's way, as the Mules outscored the Bates women's lacrosse team 3-1 in the second half to post an 8-6 victory at Garcelon Field.

The win makes Colby (12-3, 7-3 NESCAC) the fourth seed and Bates (11-4, 6-4 NESCAC) the fifth seed in the upcoming eight-team NESCAC Championship tournament. As a result the Bobcats will travel to Colby for Saturday's conference quarterfinal, starting at 12 noon.

Lexie Perticone scored twice and assisted on two goals to pace Colby's offense, while Kelsey Bowen
and Gemma Bready added two goals apiece. The Mules scored the third-most goals allowed this season by the Bobcats, who entered the game with the 12th lowest goals-against average in Division III (6.00).

On Senior Day for Bates' 10 seniors, senior Alex Briody (North Kingstown, R.I.) led Bates with two goals and two assists, and junior Drew Barry (Portland, Maine) pitched in two assists. Colby's outstanding defense limited senior All-America attacker Moriah Greenstein (Glenmont, N.Y.), the NESCAC's goals and points leader, to three shot attempts and no goals with one assist.

The first 10 minutes of the game was all Bates, with Briody figuring into all three goals as the Bobcats took a 3-0 lead. Briody scored on an assist from Barry in the third minute of the game, then cashed in on a free-position attempt after a short pass from Barry. Sophomore Camille Belletete (Jaffrey, N.H.) won the ensuing draw for Bates and Briody fed senior Emma Noto (Portland, Ore.) for a quick strike to make it 3-0 with 24:51 still left in the first half.

After a timeout and a Bates turnover, Colby finally got on the board with 17:06 left in the period, with Perticone feeding Bready, and Perticone closed it to 3-2 with 15:51 left, shooting while on the run around the circle.

Sophomore Allison Dewey (Vergennes, Vt.) won the next draw for Bates and a minute after Perticone's goal, Belletete scored to make it 4-2 with 14:49 left. But Colby tied the game within the same minute on a pair of goals by Bowen right off of Mule draw controls by Maddie Hatch and Emilie Klein, respectively. Bowen's free-position shot passed Bates senior goalie Hannah Jeffrey (Greenwich, Conn.) to tie the game at 4-4 with 14:07 left. The Mules then assumed their first lead only 72 seconds later, with Hatch winning the draw and Sasha Fritts finding Perticone open by the left post for the finish.

Bates salvaged a tie at halftime with less than two seconds remaining, after a stretch of changing and scoreless possessions for both sides. First-year Sydney Howard (Ashland, Mass.) knocked in a pass from Greenstein from behind the net to make it 5-5 at intermission.

Colby kept Bates out of rhythm for much of the second half, and scored three straight goals to open an 8-5 lead with 10 minutes left in regulation. Two of the goals came after unforced turnovers by the Bobcats and the other after a blocked shot by senior Emma Brinkman (Rye, N.Y.). Goals by Klein at 25:50, Smith at 18:51 and Bready at 10:24, with the first two assisted by Perticone and McGara DeWan, respectively, gave the Mules a comfortable three-goal cushion.

With 9:41 to go in the game, Dewey picked up a pass at her feet, and with her back to the Colby goal she faked right, wheeled left and shot past Burch for what would be the last goal of the game.

Burch finished with five saves, with three of them coming on free-position shots by the Bobcats. Jeffrey made 12 saves for Bates.

Colby established advantage over Bates in shots attempted (22-15), shots on goal (20-11), ground balls (20-13) and turnovers (11-23). Bates won 12 out of 15 draws in the game, with three controls apiece by Belletete and Dewey.