Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg found the back of the cage just past the midway mark of overtime to lift No.6 Bates College over the University of New England, 3-2, in a tightly-contested field hockey matchup on Wednesday evening (Oct. 15) through a chilling wind at Blue Bolt Field.

Moloney-Kolenberg received a penalty corner insert at the top of the arc, dodged one defender in a move to her right, and threaded a push shot between sticks and bodies into the left side of the net to clinch it.

The Bobcats (10-2) get back in the win column after consecutive losses, while the setback puts a halt on the six-game unbeaten run for the Nor'easters (9-6). It was the second straight meeting to go beyond regulation time; last year, then eleventh-ranked Bates secured a 2-1 result at home.

The teams played a scoreless opening 30 minutes, battling hard and efficiently in the midfield. The visitors accounted for the only three shots, and two were calmly kicked away by UNE goalie Greta Jennison. Each side had one corner, but neither made anything of them.

The field tilted a bit more for Bates in the 3rd quarter with the first six shots of the session. In the 37th minute, on the first of two corners in the frame, Moloney-Kolenberg passed the received insert down to her left for Elena Agosti, who hit a shot through traffic into the right side of the net for the lead.

However, the Nor'easters did get off one attempt, wide, at the tail end of the 3rd to help right the ship. The hosts then came out in the 4th, earned the first corner, and Abby Stevens set up Makena Valentine for a blast off the back board to tie things up (1-1) with 12:00 remaining [Watch].

Penalty corners proved to be the only way to score in the game, and there were just three combined opportunities in the final period of regulation. Bates converted on the next one when Rose Gordon took a feed from Ameera Dhillon and hammered it through in the 54th minute. But that 2-1 cushion only lasted 2:04, since UNE returned pressure the other way and drew the ensuing corner. The ball eventually made its way back around to Stevens at the left doorstep, and, while her first try was denied on the ground by Bobcats goalie Ava Donahue, Stevens elevated the rebound into the netting to bring the match back level (2-2). [Watch]

Bates had three corners and one shot from each sequence during the extra stanza. The initial moment prompted the fifth save of the night from Jennison.

The Nor'easters limited the Bobcats to their fewest shots on goal (8) and penalty corners (7) during five non-conference outings in 2025, as UNE's back line and defensive midfield (including Shelly Tremblay, Ann Young, Valentine, Gianna Korisianos, Micaela Jacobs, Francesca Caccamo, Stevens, and more) clogged passing lanes well and were quick with their sticks to shift the action forward. The hosts were also the only ones of that non-NESCAC group to score multiple goals on Bates (just one goal between the previous four).

UNE resumes Conference of New England (CNE) play on Saturday at Gordon College.