The No. 3-seeded Bates Bobcats won their first NESCAC Field Hockey Championship in team history with a 2-0 victory over No. 4-seeded Wesleyan at Ounjian Field on the Tufts campus.

The Bobcats earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced on Sunday, November 9 at 9 p.m. via a selection show on NCAA.com.

Bates, last year’s NESCAC Runners-Up, took a quick 1-0 lead in the eighth minute. Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg’s 10th goal of the season, an unassisted tally, put the Bobcats on the board.

Bates added to its lead in the second quarter. At the 26:41 mark, Caroline Nowak finished off an assist by Moloney-Kolenberg for her fifth marker of the year and pushed the Bobcats’ advantage to 2-0 at the half.

Wesleyan peppered the Bates cage with 17 shots in the second half while the Bobcats did not register a shot over the final 30 minutes. The Cardinals finished with a 26-6 (11-4 shots on goal) edge in shots in the game, but could not get the ball past Bates goalkeeper Ava Donohue. The Bobcats also defended 14 Wesleyan penalty corners, including five in the final quarter.

Donohue finished the game with 11 saves in the Bates net, while Audrey Pace was credited with two stops for Wesleyan.

NOTES: The No. 3 versus No. 4 matchup marked the fourth time in conference history and second straight season the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds were not in the championship game (2001, 2013, 2024) … Bates is the first team in conference tournament history to record three shutouts … For the second straight tournament, the NESCAC Champion reached the championship game by winning shootouts in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.