LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates College sophomore Luis Pereira scored three goals to lead the Bobcat men's soccer team to a 5-1 non-conference decision over the University of Maine at Farmington, Saturday afternoon at Russell Street Field.

The Bobcats (3-5-2) also received goals by senior tri-captain Tyler Grees and first-year Matt DiVite, as well as a pair of assists each by first-year Peabo Knoth and sophomore Sam Predham, in their highest scoring output of the season.

The visiting Beavers (2-8-1) tied the game early on with a goal by sophomore Ryan Fairbanks.

Bates got on the scoreboard quickly, with its first shot of the game in the fourth minute. From the left side of the Farmington box, Knoth squibbed an entry pass into the face of the goal. Grees beat a defender with a sliding kick, sending a ground ball past Farmington goalie Derek Reilly into the right side of the net. The goal was the tri-captain's first this season.

But the Beavers soon struck back, on their first shots of the contest. Sophomore Ibrahim Achekh got free on the right side of Bates' penalty area and drove a hard shot that was deflected away by Bates sophomore goalie Sam Polito. Polito couldn't control the ball, however, and Fairbanks was in perfect position to knock the ball inside the left post to even the game at 1-1 in the ninth minute.

With 20:57 left in the opening period, the Bobcats regained the lead. Pereira gained control near the right corner of the Farmington box, turned and chipped the ball softly over Reilly's head and into the left netting of the goal, to make it 2-1. The goal was Pereira's first this season.

Bates outshot UMF in the half 11-4, but the Beavers threatened again with 6:30 left, when sophomore Uriah Forrest-Bully's head ball off a free kick was saved up high by Polito.

The Bobcats opened the second half much the same way as they did the first. Predham weaved past a defender into the middle of the box, and was able to dish softly to his right, where Pereira was uncovered for an easy tap-in into the far side of the net.

Bates continued its attack on the UMF goal with hard shots by junior Nick Sorice and Predham over the following 10 minutes, both saved by Reilly.

With 18:24 to go in the game, Bates made it 4-1. Knoth got loose near the left-side goal line, faked the shot and slid the ball over to DiVite for a tap-in.

Bates capped the scoring just over a minute later. Sorice drove the left baseline and centered over to Predham; the ball glanced off of Predham's head and over to Pereira, who was wide-open for the putaway on the right side of the face of the goal. 

Reilly finished with nine saves for the Beavers, while Polito made four stops for the Bobcats. Bates finished the game with a 29-7 shot advantage, and eight corner kicks to Farmington's one.

Bates will look to extend its streak on Wednesday with a home game against Southern Maine. UMF will host UMaine-Machias tomorrow at 2:30pm.

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