LEWISTON — The Bates College field hockey team continued its roll through October into Saturday’s game, but Middlebury broke though and defeated the Bobcats, 6-3, at Campus Avenue Field.

Bates, ranked 20th in the nation, jumped out to a 2-0 lead Saturday against second-ranked Middlebury, but the Panthers exploded for four goals in the second half to hand the Bobcats their first loss of the month.

Erin Nicholas’ goal in the 52nd minute put the Panthers (12-2) ahead for good after the Bobcats (8-6) had led for most of the first 51 minutes.

The Panthers tallied 23 shots, while Bates recorded five. Meanwhile, Middlebury earned 13 penalty corners to the Bobcats’ one.

Bates took an early lead in the ninth minute of action when freshman Emily Gianunzio cleaned up in the middle of some chaos for her second goal of the season. Jessie Moriarty added a goal in the 22nd minute to make it 2-0 in favor of the Bobcats.

The score stood at 2-2 at the half. Bates got on the board first in the second half to take the lead again when Sydney Beres scored off an assist by Moriarty.

The loss is the Bobcats’ first by more than one goal, and the six goals by Middlebury is the most they’ve allowed in a game this season.

Men’s soccer

Bates 3, Middlebury 0

LEWISTON — Senior captains PJ DiBenedetto and Max Watson combined for three goals to lead the Bates men’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Middlebury College in men’s soccer action Saturday afternoon.

“That might be the best game we’ve played all season,” Bates head coach Stgewart Flaherty said. “And that’s very reflective of where this team is at this point of the year.”

The Bobcats (7-5-2) wasted little time getting on the board when they took advantage of a penalty kick just 2:13 into the game. DiBenedetto scored with a low shot that tucked inside the bottom left post, for his first goal of the season and the second of his career.

Women’s soccer

Middlebury 5, Bates 0

LEWISTON — Virginia Charman and Ellie Greenberg each scored a pair of goals as Middlebury tipped up Bates 5-0 in women’s soccer action Saturday morning.

The Panthers (10-2-2) struck in the third minute to take the lead for good over the Bobcats (6-7-1) when Sabrina Glaser found Charman, who buried the ball in the upper left corner of the goal from 20 yards out.

Ursula Alwang played the opening half in goal for the Panthers and finished with one save, while Eva Shaw made two stops in the final 45 minutes. Senior captain Sarah McCarthy collected four saves for the Bobcats.

Middlebury held a 14-9 advantage in shots.