The Bobcats are off to an outstanding start this season after posting a 1-0 win over Wesleyan University and a 1-1 tie against No. 4 nationally ranked Williams College this past weekend.

As of now, their record stands at 4-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the NESCAC, ranking them at fourth within the conference. This is the best overall start that the women’s soccer team has seen in over a decade.

At Wesleyan on Saturday September 22nd, Bates came out on top in an aggressive match. Throughout the game, the Cardinals posted 32 shots overall in comparison to Bates’ 10. However, the quantity of shots has little meaning if none of them make their way into the goal.

The Cardinals fired the ball at the goal 17 times, and goalie Sarah McCarthy ‘18 refused to let even a single one slip through, setting a new personal record.

“Wesleyan was a tough game,” said McCarthy. “They were physical and played “kick and run,” so it took us a while to adjust and be able to play our game. Throughout the game I was just thinking that I wanted to keep us in the game and allow my teammates to have an opportunity to have a meaningful goal.”

In contrast, the Bobcats only shot three times on goal. It only took one of these to slip past Wesleyan’s goalie for Bates to secure the win.

With nine minutes left on the clock, Olivia Amdur ‘19 successfully executed a corner kick to Caroline Bogue ‘21, who was then able to score the game-winning goal.

Bates challenged Williams’ undefeated record on Sunday, coming out of it with Bates’ first point against Williams in a conference game since 2010. As of Sunday, Williams had won five NESCAC conference games.

In this game, Bates played hard during the first period. Amur scored the first goal of the game early in the first period. However, Williams was able to come back with a goal shortly after the start of the second period. Bates and Williams battled it out for the rest of the second period and the two overtime periods to no avail, ending the match in a tie.

“Saturday was great,” McCarthy said. “Williams is always a tough opponent. We had never scored on them in my career, so we made it our goal to score, and when we accomplished that, it was a great feeling. Every minute of the game was intense, both physically and mentally demanding. I’m extremely proud in the way my teammates maintained their composure and played as a unit.”

Similarly, head coach Kelsy Ross expressed her positivity for Bates’ strong performance this weekend.

“Coming home with points against Williams was important, as it will be a helpful, potential tiebreaker before playoffs,” said Ross. “It also shows you how competitive this conference really is.”

“Our success this past weekend was truly earned throughout our training last week,” she continued. “Our staff pushed the whole roster to ‘be better’ and they rose to the challenge. If we continue to train as hard as we have been, there are plenty of more successes to come this fall.”

The Bobcats are set to play against Thomas College on Wednesday evening in Waterville. This Saturday, Bates is hoping to further their conference record in a game against Trinity College, held at Russell Street Field.