Box Score WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Seventh-ranked Bates (7-0/4-0 NESCAC) scored the first three goals of the game en route to a 17-11 win over host Williams (5-0/2-1 NESCAC).
The game started in a drizzle with temps in the upper 30s, but by halftime the rain had turned to snow.
Bates opened the scoring at 13:38 when Clark Jones scored off a feed from Jake Walsh. The Bobcats added two more goals from Charlie Fay with the second Fay tally being assisted by Matt Chlastawa before Williams got on the scoreboard.
The Eph goal came from Kevin Stump at 10:47 with Michael Fahey assisting.
Dhanique Brown-Jones upped the Bates lead to 4-1 with an unassisted score at 9:53. Charlie Fay's third goal of the first half increased the Bates lead to 5-1 at 9:53.
Fay's third goal of the first half lifted the Bobcats to a 5-1 lead. Andrew Melvin was credited with an assist on the Fay score.
Williams scored two of the final three goals of the first quarter to narrow the Bobcats' lead to 6-3. In between goals by James McFarland and Max Stulakin was a goal for Bates by Matt Kelleher.
Bates continued to have success on offense scoring the first four goals of the second quarter and out scored Williams 4-1 in the quarter to take a 10-4 lead into halftime.
Four different Bobcats scored in the second quarter with Kyle Weber starting the scoring at 11:41 with an unassisted score. Weber then set up Jake Walsh at 7:14. Walsh then teamed up with Scott Baber to get Baber on the score sheet at with 3:09. Wes Shrewsbury notched an unassisted tally with 49.9 seconds left in the quarter to close the Bobcats' scoring.
The Ephs' lone goal of the quarter came with 17.7 seconds remaining as Ben Fox fed Michael Fahey for a goal just outside of the circle.
Bates capitalized on 14 first half turnovers by the Ephs to manufacture several offensive forays in transition that broke open the Eph defense. Bates turned the ball over eight times in the first half.
Eph goalie George Peel recorded six first half saves, while Bates goalie Mitchell Drake was called on to make four saves.
Kyle weber tallied two unassisted third period goals in the first 1:23 of the third quarter and the Bobcats now owned an 8-goal lead. Williams responded with three straight scores, but Charlie Fay netted the final goal of the quarter off a feed from Weber and the Bobcats led 13-7 after three quarters. Chris McLaughlin, John Hincks and Michael Fahey scored the three Eph goals.
Both teams scored four goals in the final quarter. At 10:08 the Ephs' Kevin Stump scored unassisted to narrow the Bobcats' lead to 14-9, but that was the closest Williams would come to Bates the remainder of the way as the Bobcats scored three of the final five goals in the contest.
"We had too slow a start against too good a team," said Eph head coach George McCormack. "We fought back, but you've got to play four strong quarters against a good team. Lesson learned. That's a good team and they played better than us. Hopefully we'll bounce back tomorrow against Bowdoin."
Charlie Fay who scored a game high six goals led the Bates attack. Kyle Weber added three goals and three assists and Jake Walsh scored one goal and assisted on three.
Williams was led on offense by Kevin Stump who scored three goals and registered two assists. Michael Fahey contributed two goals and three assists and John Hincks netted two goals and assisted on one.
Bates goalie Mitchell Drake stopped 15 of 27 shots by the Ephs, while Williams's goalie George Peele had 12 saves and allowed 17 goals.
Williams won 17 face offs to the Bobcats'15, but Bates held a 37-35 advantage in ground balls. The Ephs committed 26 turnovers on the day and Bates had 20.
The Ephs will return to action tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. when they host Bowdoin and Bates will play at Middlebury tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.
