LEWISTON, Maine -- No. 3 Colby College broke away from a 4-3 deficit with seven straight goals in the first half en route to an 18-12 NESCAC women's lacrosse victory over Bates College in the regular-season finale for both teams on Friday night.

Despite the loss, the host Bobcats (8-7, 3-6) earned the sixth seed in the upcoming NESCAC Championship, and will play at third-seeded Middlebury on Sunday in the conference quarterfinals.

The Mules finish 13-1 overall and 8-1 in the NESCAC and earn the second seed in the conference playoffs. They'll host Wesleyan on Sunday in the quarterfinals.

Becky Julian scored four goals for Colby and Claire Donegan added two goals and five assists. Heather Nickerson collected three goals and two assists, and Amy Campbell and Caroline Atwater both notched hat tricks as well. Sarah Warnke made seven saves in net for the Mules.

Joan O'Neill led the Bates offense with three goals and one assist, while Caroline Thomas also tallied three goals. Briana Gross scored twice, and Morgan Maciewicz, Molly Radis and Abby Saucier each had one goal and one assist. Mara Krueger made nine saves in goal for Bates.

Saucier scored an unassisted goal with 13:37 left in the first half to complete a 3-0 Bates run that put the Bobcats ahead 4-3. But Colby responded less than a minute later as Donegan fed Nickerson to even the game at 4-4, beginning a crucial 7-0 run that finished out the half, putting Colby on top 10-4 at the break.

Bates outscored Colby 4-0 over the first 11 minutes of the second half to close the gap to 10-8. Thomas scored twice in the run and Gross finished it off with an unassisted tally. Colby reeled off three straight in a span of 94 seconds, giving the Mules more breathing room at 13-8 with 17:29 to go.

Radis scored unassisted to close it to 13-9, but again answered with three straight, including two in a row by Atwater, to make it 16-9 with 7:11 left in the game. The Mules extended their lead to 18-10 before Bates closed the gap in the final two minutes with goals by Thomas and O'Neill.

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LEWISTON, Maine -- Becky Julian reached 150 career points and Kate Sheridan went over 100 career assists as the third-ranked Colby College women's lacrosse team won for the 12th straight time in an 18-12 win over Bates College on Friday night.

Colby (13-1, 8-1 NESCAC) earned the second seed in the upcoming NESCAC playoffs and will entertain seventh-seeded Wesleyan University on Sunday at noon in a quarterfinal game at Bill Alfond Field.

Julian had four goals in the victory and now has 113 goals and 37 assists for 150 career points. Meanwhile, Sheridan had three assists to surpass 100 and has her career totals at 177 goals and 102 assists for 279 points.

First-year midfielder Claire Donegan led the way for the Mules with two goals and five assists. Heather Nickerson, who reached 70 career goals, had three goals and two assists. Amy Campbell and Caroline Atwater both had three goals, while Cary Finnegan had one goal and one assist. Carly Rapaport finished with a pair of assists.

2009-04-25