LEWISTON, Me. – A late goal from Kate Smith was not enough Saturday afternoon as the nationally-ranked No.12 Bates defeated No. 9 Amherst, 2-1, in a tight battle at Campus Avenue Field.

Amherst is now 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the NESCAC, while the Bobcats improved to 5-2 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Mammoths will travel to Colby this Sunday to take on the Mules at 12 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

*The Bobcats took the lead in the game's tenth minute when first-year Izzy Grol inserted directly to senior Maria Femia in front of goal, who turned and slipped a shot beneath Amherst goaltender Grace Puchalski to notch her third goal of the season.

*With only six minutes left in the second quarter, senior Paige Dibiase stole a mismanaged ball from a Bates penalty corner, driving her pass downfield past the Bobcat defense to senior Sam Maynard, who slotted the ball to junior Anna Aiello for a 1 v. 1 with Bobcat keeper Ava Donahue, but a sliding save from Donahue prevented the conversion.

*Amherst found itself down 2-0 at the end of the second quarter. Off an untimed penalty corner, a sequence of passes inside the circle between seniors Anna Cote and Anna Lindeis dropped the ball past Puchalski to freshman Caroline Nowak, who fired a shot to take the game into a 2-0 lead for Bates.

* In their fourth penalty corner of the match, the Mammoths fought back to make it 2-1 six minutes into the third quarter. Senior Kate Smith inserted to junior Justine Luguori, who slipped the ball past the Bates defense back to Smith. The pass found Smith alone at the far-left post and the senior did not miss rocketing her shot into the net to find Amherst's first goal of the game.

*Amherst looked for the equalizer with under four minutes left in the third quarter when sophomore Maya Harrington inserted a penalty corner to Smith, who fired a shot towards goal that glanced off the stick of Liguori and found Aiello open near the right post. Aiello tucked a shot towards the right corner, but the ball slid just wide of the goal.

*Strong defense from the Mammoths left Bates scoreless in the fourth quarter. Puchalski made three saves including a speedy kick-save against a shot from sophomore Sophie O'Sullivan to leave the fourth stanza scoreless.

BY THE NUMBERS:

*The victory marked Bates's first win against Amherst since 2019.

*Amherst held a 14-11 advantage in shots, and 11-7 in shots on goal. The Bates defense out-saved Amherst 10-5.

*Senior Kate Smith notched her first goal of the season and her fourth collegiate goal for Amherst.