Lewiston, Maine -- The visiting Trinity College Bantams finished the game on a 4-1 run to pull away from the Bates College Bobcat women's lacrosse team for a 10-5 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) victory this afternoon at Campus Avenue Field.  The Bantams, ranked No. 5 in the nation, improve to 12-1 with their fourth victory in a row and their 7-1 NESCAC mark earns them the top seed in the NESCAC Championship Tournament in May.  The Bobcats drop to 6-6 overall and 2-5 in NESCAC play.

Junior attacker Caitlin Irvine (Westwood, Mass.) led the Bantams in scoring with three goals and two assists, while sophomore midfielder Liz Bruno (Andover, Mass.) added two goals in addition to five ground balls and eight caused turnovers. Senior tri-captain A/M Jennifer Calver (Barnard, Vt.) scored a goal with one assist.  Bates received three goals from sophomore Joan O'Neill (Westwood, Mass.) and two scores from sophomore Jenna Dannis (Milford, N.H.).

The Bantams broke a scoreless tie nearly 12 minutes into the game when Bruno intercepted a pass near the Bates goal and scored unassisted with 18:01 left in the period. With 10 minutes left in the period, Trinity led 3-0 thanks to goals by Irvine and freshman Kaitlin Hildebrand (Berwyn, Pa.).  O'Neill got Bates on the board with 9:19 left in the half after a ground ball pickup by senior Molly Radis (Peaks Island, Maine). Trinity responded less than a minute later when Bruno converted a free-position attempt at the 8:38 mark. Dannis scored an FPS goal of her own just 38 seconds later to close the gap to 4-2 with 8:00 remaining. The teams stayed scoreless for a stretch until Trinity scored with 12 seconds left in the half, with Calver feeding Irvine to make it 5-2.

Bates scored twice in the opening three minutes of the second half to close the score to 6-4. O'Neill tallied once at 29:17 to close it to 5-3, then Dannis answered a goal by Trinity rookie attacker Megan Leonhard (Summit, N.J.) with a slashing goal scored on a feed from first-year Jenn Brallier (Chamberburg, Pa.).  Trinity bounced back into a healthy lead in fairly short order, as Calver scored at the 24:55 mark, followed by Irvine's FPS goal at 22:20. Eighteen seconds later, Bruno had caused a Bates turnover after the Bobcats controlled the draw, leading to a goal by senior attacker Kristin Phelps (Sudbury, Mass.) for a 9-4 advantage with 22:02 left in the game.

Trinity's defense proved too strong for Bates to mount a comeback. O'Neill scored her third unassisted goal of the game, and her team-high 33rd goal of the season, with 12:29 left to cut it to 9-5, but Trinity senior tri-captain midfielder Sarah Remes (Silver Spring, Md.) tacked on the game's last goal with 7:16 to play.  Bates junior goalie Mara Krueger (St. Louis, Mo.) made six saves, while Trinity sophomore goalie Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) turned away four Bates shots.

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