Hartford, Conn. - Senior tri-captain attacker Julia
Nawrocki (Winchester, England) tallied five goals and two
assists to lead the visiting Williams College Ephs to a 15-13 win
over the Trinity College Bantams in the quarterfinal round of the
New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's
Lacrosse Championship Tournament this afternoon on Sheppard
Field. Trinity, seeded No. 4 in the tournament and ranked No.
11 in the nation, falls to 10-4 and hopes to receive an at-large
bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in May.
The Ephs, seeded No. 5 and ranked No. 17 nationally, improve to
11-5 and will play a semifinal game at top-seeded Tufts on
Saturday, May 2. The win is the second for Williams in the
opening round at Trinity in the last three seasons, having posted a
14-13 triumph in overtime in 2007.
Trailing, 8-7, after back-to-back goals by Trinity junior
Kristin Phelps (Sudbury, Mass.) and
Caitlin Irvine (Westwood, Mass.) to open the
second half, Williams used a 7-1 run over a 15-minute span to take
a 14-9 lead with 16:22 remaining in the game. Nawrocki scored
once and assisted on two goals during the run, while fellow senior
tri-captain Brittany Spackman (Newton, Mass.)
scored her two goals in the spurt including the game-winner that
gave Williams a 9-8 5:49 after the break.
Williams held a 15-10 lead with 3:27 on the clock when the
Bantam junior attacker Jenn Calver (Barnard, Vt.)
assisted Irvine and sophomore attacker Christy Bradley
(Wellesley, Mass.) on consecutive goals, and Bradley added
her fourth tally of the contest with just under one minute
remaining. Williams was awarded the ensuing draw on a Bantam
foul and maintained possession of the ball the rest of the
way. Trinity freshman midfielder Liz Bruno (Andover,
Mass.) knocked the ball away from a Williams player with
about 30 seconds left, but it fell into an open area and the Ephs
corralled it back.
Trinity, which scored seven goals on free positions, opened up a
3-0 lead 5:38 into the contest, but Williams answered with a 5-0
run, before Bradley used a spin move in front of the goal to pull
Trinity within one at 5-4 with 12:13 left before
intermission. Bradley scored again late to knot the game at
6-6, but Eph freshman attacker Margie Fulton (Wellesley,
Mass.) gave Williams a 7-6 edge at half with a goal at the
1:53 mark.
Trinity, playing without injured leading scorer Rachel
Romanowsky (Hampstead, N.H.), held a slight advantage in
shot at 33-31 and had 27 ground balls to 19 for Williams.
Bradley and Irvine paced the Bantams with four goals apiece, while
junior midfielder Sarah Remes (Silver Spring, Md.)
scored three times. Calver picked up a team-high five ground
balls, Irvine recorded a game-high five draw controls, Bruno
registered a game-hihg four caused turnovers, and freshman
Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) stopped eight
shots in goal. Spackman finished with two goals, two assists,
three ground balls, and three draw controls for the Ephs, while
Fulton added four goals and three draw controls. Williams
sophomore goalkeeper Julia Schreiber (Cockeysville,
Md.) made 13 saves, including eight in the second half.
box score