(Courtesy of Bates College Sports Information)

            LEWISTON, Maine -- The 20th ranked Bates College women's lacrosse team fought off a game University of Southern Maine squad on Wednesday, pulling away from an 8-5 game early in the second half to win 20-6 at Garcelon Field.

            Bates improves to 5-4 with its fifth win in the last six games, while USM dropped to 2-7.

            Bates junior Joan O'Neill (Westwood, Mass.) tied her career high with five goals and added an assist to lead the Bobcats in scoring.  Junior Jenna Dannis (Milford, N.H.) added three goals and an assist, and junior Lindsay Thompson (Ipswich, Mass.) also tied a career high with three goals.  First-year midfielder Wally Pierce (Weston, Mass.) scored the first two goals of her career and added one assist, a game-high three caused turnovers and a game-high-tying three ground balls.

            USM senior Mary Vaughan (Brunswick, Maine) and first-year Jackie Kelly (Brunswick, Maine) scored twice for the Huskies, and sophomore Shelby Turcotte (Lewiston, Maine) netted a goal and one assist.

            USM sophomore goalie Samantha Kiesel (Lakeville, Mass.) did an outstanding job of keeping the Huskies in the game into the second half, making nine saves in each period to finish with 18, including many from very close range in the first half.  Bates outshot USM 44-13 in the game.

            For Bates, three netminders split time in goal, including senior starter Mara Krueger (St. Louis, Mo.), who made one save and allowed a pair of goals.  Junior Leah Elsmore (Broadview Heights, Ohio) made two saves and allowed four goals, while sophomore Eloise O'Connor (Loudonville, N.Y.) stopped one shot without allowing a goal over the final 12:41.

            The Bobcats got out to a 4-0 lead with 18:24 left in the first half, thanks in part to two quick scores from O'Neill.  But USM won the next draw and Kelly raced through the Bates defense to put the Huskies on the board at 4-1. USM first-year Rosie Forster (Andover, Mass.) then made it 4-2 with an unassisted tally, her team-high 17th score of the season.

            O'Neill ended USM's mini-run with a free-position goal with 10:57 left, her third goal of the game and her 23rd of the season. Vaughan struck a minute later, however, to make it 5-3. Bates outscored USM 3-1 over the final 9:51 of the period for an 8-4 lead at the break.

            After Kelly closed the gap to 8-5 with 27:55 left in the second half, Dannis and O'Neill contributed two goals apiece in Bates' decisive run of five unanswered goals between the 22:56 and 19:49 marks.

            Bates plays a NESCAC game at Connecticut College on Saturday (12:00 p.m.).  Southern Maine travels to play at MIT on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).

-ble-