LEWISTON — In high school, Charlie Fay was a scorer. He had 47 goals as a senior, leading Falmouth to the Class B boys’ lacrosse state championship, and in basketball led the Yachtsmen in points.

Now he’s a senior at Bates College, no longer playing basketball. But lacrosse? He’s still playing, still scoring, and yes, still winning.

With 52 goals, Fay is the leading scorer for the the Bobcats – the nation’s top-ranked Division III team.

Bates finished off a perfect regular season Wednesday, reaching 13-0 with a 24-10 victory against Colby. The Bobcats became the first New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse team to take a 10-0 conference record to the postseason.

On a rainy afternoon at Garcelon Field on the Bates campus, Fay led the Bobcats with six goals against an overmatched opponent.

Early in the fourth quarter, he was out of the game for good, resting on the sidelines and enjoying the rare opportunity to watch his teammates.

“It was a pretty exciting performance,” Fay said. “Great way to cap off an excellent season, and being able to get in those guys that are kind of the practice players is just awesome. That’s gratifying for us and it’s just great for team morale overall.”

Before Fay was subbed out, his talents were on full display late in the first period, when he received a pass from freshman attacker Matt Chlastawa, dodged a defender and flipped the ball behind his back, with one hand, into the goal.

According to Coach Peter Lasagna and Fay’s teammates, that kind of skill comes from Fay’s years of dedication to the sport.

“He’s put an awful lot of time into his game his entire life,” said Lasagna. “Whether it’s getting guys together on a Sunday to play indoors here or going down to Portland to play pickup with a bunch of angry old guys, he’s been doing this his whole life, and he really cares.”

Off the field, Fay is nothing like the intense, ultra-competitive goal machine you see on it.

Seniors Kyle Weber and Andrew Melvin note that the trash talk of practice shifts to a relaxed, friendly atmosphere once they set their sticks down.

As Fay explains it, he simply can’t stand losing.

“I’m pretty laid back normally,” Fay said, “but once something gets going where there’s a winner and loser, I just have a really tough time losing, and I think they all know that. Whether it be an argument or a lacrosse game or playing Settlers of Catan (a multiplayer board game), it gets heated just because we’re all so competitive and we all just like to win so much.”

Tactically, Lasagna and Fay point to several reasons for Bates’ success this season.

Along with continuing to push Bates to play at a faster pace, Lasagna made a major adjustment late last season, shifting Fay from midfielder to attack. Fay was an attacker at Falmouth, so the transition was smooth.

After scoring 12.60 goals per game last season, the Bobcats are averaging 17.15 this year.

“I think (attack) is a lot better for me because I’m really more of an offensive player, and I get to focus on playing offense, honing those skills, and I don’t have to worry about going back on defense and messing up my rhythm,” Fay said.

After Wednesday’s dominant performance, Bates will be home against Connecticut College in the conference quarterfinals at noon Saturday.

Bates beat the Camels 16-14 last Saturday and is wary of the threat they pose.

“In the NESCAC, any team can beat anybody on a given day,” said senior defender Fred Ulbrick. “If you don’t come into every game with 100 percent focus, any team can upset you. Especially being the No. 1 seed, we have a very big target on our back.”

Even when the season is over, Fay doesn’t plan to stop playing lacrosse – or scoring goals.

He hopes to be selected in the Major League Lacrosse draft, which takes place after the college season. But if he isn’t selected, he still wants to play in some capacity.

Even if he does play professionally, Fay realizes his future lies in business. He’s an economics major who plans to pursue a career in finance.

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