Hartford, Conn. – Freshman attacker Sam Weinstein
(Marblehead, Mass.) scored three goals, including the
game-winner with 6:31 left in the game, and junior goalie
Julia Schreiber (Cockeysville, Md.) made 14 saves
to lead the visiting Williams College Ephs to an 11-10 victory over
the top-seeded Trinity College Bantams in the semifinal round of
the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)
Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament this afternoon on
Sheppard Field.
The Bantams, ranked No. 5 in the nation, fall to 13-3 and expect
to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship
Tournament when they are announced on Sunday evening. No.
7-seeded Williams, ranked No. 15 nationally, will play the winner
of today's other NESCAC Semifinal game between Amherst
College and Colby College tomorrow at noon on Sheppard Field.
Williams improves to 11-6, avenging a 12-5 loss at Trinity on April
3 and ending Trinity's NESCAC Championship run with a road
win in Hartford for the third time in the last four years.
Williams knocked off Trinity, 15-13, in the NESCAC First Round last
spring and came back from an 11-5 deficit in the second half to win
at Trinity, 14-13, in overtime in 2007.
Trinity held a 9-4 lead with 23:14 left in the game, when
Williams scored seven unanswered goals over the next 18 minutes to
take an 11-9 lead with 5:15 on the clock. Eph freshman
midfielder Nicolle Perry (Yorktown, N.Y.) ignited
the spurt with a goal from sophomore midfielder Meera
Sivalingam (Philadelphia Pa.) at the 22:46 mark and
Williams senior Alice Nelson (Nahover, N.H.)
tallied 12 seconds later off the ensuing draw. Weinstein
scored twice during the run, both on free position shots that she
hurled over the left shoulder of Bantam sophomore netminder
Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.).
Sivalingam one-timed the game-tying goal quickly past Dinallo at
after a pass from the right side by sophomore Kaitlin Ellis
(Darien, Conn.), and Weinstein's second goal of the
run followed more tah seven minutes later . After
Williams' final goal was scored by sophomore attacker
Margie Fulton (Wellesley, Mass.), Bantam senior
tri-captain midfielder Sarah Remes (Silver Spring,
Md.) broke a 19:51 second scoring drought for Trinity,
knifing through the Williams defense for a goal with 3:23 left, but
the Ephs won the draw and kept the ball for the remainder of the
contest.
Trinity used a 4-0 run to take a 5-2 lead 13 minutes into the
game, as five different Bantams scored with two goals coming on
feeds from Remes. The teams traded goals over the final 15
minutes of the first half, closing with a score by Bantam senior
Kristin Phelps (Sudbury, Mass.) that gave Trinity
a 7-4 advantage at the break. Junior midfielder
Alisen Urquhart (Redding, Conn.) and Phelps added
two more Bantam goals early in the second half, before Williams
began its comeback.
Trinity lost despite outshooting the Ephs, 34-18, and holding a
20-to-13 edge on ground balls and a 15-to-8 advantage on the
draw. Schreiber was stellar on shots from close and free
position, helping the Eph defense hold the Bantams to two goals on
13 free-position tries. Williams took advantage of its free
positions, converting on all four opportunities, and benefitted
from 35 Trinity fouls and seven Bantam yellow cards. Bantam
freshman attacker Megan Leonhard (Summit, N.J.)
joined Phelps with two goals and added four draw controls, while
senior tri-captain attacker Jenn Calver (Barnard,
Vt.) added one goal and one assist to go with her
team-high four ground balls. Junior Caitlin Irvine
(Westwood, Mass.) scored once with four draw controls,
while sophomore Elizabeth Beckler (Potomac, Md.)
collected three caused turnovers and three ground balls, and
Dinallo finished with four saves. Fulton and Williams senior
co-captain attacker Whitney Thayer (Lancaster,
Pa.) scored twice apiece, while senior attacker
Tina Nawrocki (Winchester, England) assisted on
three goals, and Ellis recorded two assists, three ground balls,
and three caused turnovers.
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