Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg had a goal and an assist as the Bates field hockey team won the New England Small College Athletic Conference title for the first time with a 2-0 win over Wesleyan College on Sunday in Medford, Massachusetts.
The third-seeded Bobcats improve to 15-3 (the most wins in program history) and earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. Bates was awarded a No. 1 seed in the tournament and will host the winner of a first-round game between Stevens and NESCAC-foe Amherst in the second round on Saturday.
Bowdoin College, which finished 9-7, earned an at-large bid in the tournament and will host the University of Scranton at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The fourth-seeded Cardinals fall to 14-4.
Bates advance in the tournament with shootout victories over Hamilton and Middlebury. Both games were scoreless through two overtimes and Bates won the shootouts, 2-1.
Moloney-Kolenberg scored 7:30 into the game to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. She then assisted on Caroline Nowak’s goal in the second quarter.
Moloney-Kolenberg is the Bobcats leading scorer with 10 goals and six assists this season.
The Bobcats also beat the Cardinals in the regular season, 1-0 on Sept. 20.
Ava Donohue stopped 11 shots for Bates, while Audrey Pace had two saves for Wesleyan.
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