Collegeville, Penn. - The No. 3 Ursinus College Bears topped the
No. 6 Trinity College Bantams 5-1 in the quarterfinal round of the
NCAA Div. III Championship Tournament this afternoon, hosted by
Ursinus College at Eleanor Frost Shell Alumnae Field. Ursinus
improves to 19-2 on the season and returns to the semifinal game
for the third time in four years, having won the National
Championship in 2006. The Bantams end their season at 16-3.
Ursinus junior Michelle Wimmer (Palm, Penn.)
got the scoring started 7:31 into the game after the Bears couldn't
capitalize on two open net opportunities. Despite a strong
Ursinus attack to open the game, momentum shifted, and Trinity
tested senior goalkeeper Erica Scott (Carney's Point,
N.J.) for the following 13 minutes. Scott responded,
frustrating the Trinity offense with three athletic saves midway
through the first half to keep the Bears on top. Ursinus
regained momentum late in the half, and added a second goal off the
stick of junior Megan Yoder (Lititz, Penn.) in the
37th minute, as the Bears increased their lead to 2-0.
Ursinus sophomore Alyssa Thren (Barto, Penn.)
scored to open the second half, putting the Bears up 3-0.
Trinity had breakaway opportunities by senior co-captain
Carrie Wolcott (Hamilton, Mass.) and junior
Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) midway and late
in the second half, but could capitalize on neither, as Scott
continued to come up with big plays.
With just over ten minutes remaining in the game, Trinity ended
the scoring drought with a goal from sophomore Payson Sword
(Princeton, N.J.), who deflected a shot from junior
Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), finally
beating Scott to pull the Bantams within two. Sword also
scored in yesterday's NCAA Tournament match against
Middlebury. Ursinus answered with their fourth goal of the
match, this coming off the stick of senior Jessica
Zatwarnicki (Reading, Penn.), to give Ursinus a 4-1 lead
and put the match out of reach for Trinity.
With just 1:02 remaining in the game, Thren added her second
score of the contest, a significant goal, as it was her 32nd of the
season, a Centennial Conference single season scoring record.
Ursinus made sophomore goalkeeper Gina Dinallo (West
Hartford, Conn.) work all afternoon, rifling off 36
shots, including three off the post. Dinallo finished the
game with 16 saves. Scott racked up 13 saves on 23 Trinity
shots, allowing just one goal for the win.
Ursinus advances to the NCAA Semifinal game which will be played on
Sat., Nov. 21 in South Hadley, Mass. Against the winner of this
afternoon's match between Messiah and Lebanon.
box score
