Hartford, Conn. - Senior tri-captain Molly Malloy
(Stamford, Conn.) scored the game's only goal and
sophomore Emily Vitale (Cheshire, Conn.) earned a
shutout in the cage with seven saves to lead the visiting Amherst
College Lord Jeffs to a 1-0 victory over the Trinity College
Bantams in the New England Small College Athletic Conference
(NESCAC) regular season finale for both teams this afternoon on
Sheppard Field. Trinity, ranked No. 4 in the nation, falls
short in its quest for its first undefeated regular season since
1997 and finished the regular campaign at 13-1 overall and 8-1 in
the NESCAC. Amherst, ranked No. 15 in the nation, closes the
regular campaign at 11-3 overall and 6-3 in the league with its
sixth consecutive victory.
Trinity finishes in a first-place tie place in the final NESCAC
standings with the Tufts University Jumbos, and the Bantams will
host a NESCAC Championship Quarterfinal game for the first time
against the Connecticut College Camels on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1
p.m. Trinity won at Tufts, 2-1, on Oct. 17, which gives the
Bantams a tiebreaking edge on the Jumbos, and, therefore, their
first No. 1 seed in the league tournament. With a win against
Connecticut College, Trinity will host the NESCAC Semifinals and
Finals next weekend. Amherst finished tied with Middlebury
for third place in the NESCAC, and won its regular season game
against them to earn the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.
The Lord Jeffs will host No. 6-seeded Bowdoin, the two-time
defending NCAA Champions, in their NESCAC Quarterfinal game on
Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. Trinity will be playing in its fifth
NESCAC Championship Tournament on Sunday, after reaching the league
semifinals for the first time last fall, and its fourth in a row.
After an uneventful first half that saw the teams combine for
seven shots, Malloy blasted in a rebound from point-blank range
after Trinity sophomore goalie Gina Dinallo (West Hartford,
Conn.) had saved a shot from the right side by sophomore
forward Chrissy Cantore (Hershey, Pa.) 2:35 into
the second stanza. Malloy nearly gave Amherst a 2-0 advantage
with 13 minutes remaining when she worked the ball past the Trinity
defense and around to the left of a diving Dinallo, but fired a
shot wide left of the cage. Trinity failed to score for the
first time this season, despite a series a late blasts from the top
of the circle by junior midfielder Robyn Williams
(Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) and a pair of second-half put-backs
by sophomore back Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.)
that were stopped by Vitale. Dinallo finished with six saves
for Trinity.
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