Amanda Gifford '12

For all intents and purposes, the Bates women’s soccer team needed a win over Wesleyan on Saturday in order to keep their hopes alive for a return to the NESCAC Championship. First-year forward Amanda Gifford (Lee, Maine) essentially delivered that win when her goal 41 seconds into second overtime decided the game 2-1 in Bates’ favor. When senior Jen Marino lunged to beat a defender to the ball and her kick caromed off of Wesleyan’s left goalpost, Gifford was there to beat another Cardinal defender to the loose ball, and she poked the ball past the foot of a third Wesleyan defender and into the lower right corner of the net.

Women’s soccer (6-7, 2-6 NESCAC) finishes the regular season at Colby this Friday at 3 p.m., needing a win or a tie to earn a return trip to the NESCAC Championship, which has expanded to an eight-team field this season.

Patrick Jackson '11

After receiving limited playing time as a freshman last year, men’s soccer midfielder Patrick Jackson earned the starting nod throughout the 2008 season, and has emerged as one of the top scoring midfielders in the NESCAC.

Jackson (Durham, N.H.) underscored that on Saturday, when he factored into all three of Bates’ goals in a crucial 3-2 victory over Wesleyan. He led off the scoring with a goal assisted by first-year goalie Greg Watts and sophomore midfielder Dustin DiGregorio, and made it 2-0 when he headed in a corner kick by junior forward Jonathan Lobozzo. Jackson returned Lobozzo’s favor in the second half, as Bates added an insurance goal when Lobozzo headed in a ball inside the right corner, assisted on a crossing pass by Jackson. Jackson was named NESCAC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for his virtuoso performance.

Jackson leads the team in scoring with 8 goals and 2 assists. Jackson’s performance Saturday lifted him into the top 10 in the conference in points per game (1.08; 10th) and goals per game (0.50; tied for 6th).

Bates hosts Colby this Friday at 3 p.m., needing a win for a spot in the eight-team field of the NESCAC Championship, which starts on Sunday.

Dae Ro Lee '11

The Bates College men’s soccer team beat its second undefeated opponent this week Saturday at Middlebury, ending the host Panthers’ 18-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win.

The Bobcats scored the game’s only goal at 84:39 as sophomore Dae Ro Lee (Yongin, South Korea) struck a beautiful corner kick that arced around Middlebury keeper Brian Bush and into the far side of the net.

The loss was the first for the defending NCAA champion Panthers, currently ranked No. 1 in New England.

It was the second unbeaten opponent Bates (7-5) defeated during the week. On Wednesday they scored three second-half goals to deal MIT its first loss this season at 12-1-1.

Lee has three goals this season, including both of the Bobcats’ two goals in its past two NESCAC contests.

Julie Brown '09

Bates women’s soccer senior midfielder Julie Brown has turned up the heat in her offensive game recently, and the Bobcats have been the obvious beneficiaries.

Brown (Lynnfield, Mass.), one of three captains on the team, began her recent outburst on Oct. 4 against Connecticut College, when she scored one goal with one assist as the Bobcats beat the Camels 3-1 for their first NESCAC victory of the season. Brown followed with her first career hat trick in a 4-1 win over Southern Maine last week. (She even added another goal, the game-winner, and an assist in this week’s 3-2 win at Husson, giving her 5 goals and 2 assists in Bates’ past four games.)

Bates looks for victory No. 5 this season, and for its second NESCAC win, on Saturday at Middlebury. Game time is at 11 a.m.

Senior forward Jen Marino (Methuen, Mass.) scored almost immediately after entering the game in the 19th minute during the first half of Bates’ 4-1 women’s soccer victory over Wellesley College, putting the Bobcats up 1-0 after converting a cross from first-year forward Samantha Alper (Holliston, Mass.). Twenty minutes later, Marino struck again, measuring up a blast from about 15 yards out after an assist from sophomore Kim Suvak (Winchester, Mass.), this time putting the Bobcats ahead 3-0 en route to the team’s first victory of the season.

Behind Marino’s two goals and Alper’s two assists and one goal, the Bobcats dealt the visiting Blue their first loss of the season. Wellesley had been ranked No. 8 in New England, largel on the strength of an earlier win over nationally ranked Skidmore.

Marino and the Bobcats play host to Babson on Thursday in another non-conference contest, before heading to Tufts University for a NESCAC game on Saturday.

Brittney French assumed the starting goalie position on the Bates women’s soccer team this year after the graduation of Nini Spalding ’08. She was put right to work in the Bobcats’ season opener on Saturday, a 2-1 loss in which the visiting Ephs launched 40 shots toward French’s goal.

French (Auburn, Maine) stopped 16 shots, the most saves by a Bates goalie in over five years, helping to keep the game close against the No. 1 ranked team in New England and the defending NESCAC champions. In addition to leading the NESCAC in saves per game after one game, French is sixth in save percentage (.889).

French and the Bobcats host Wellesley College Thursday in a non-conference matchup.