MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Senior Greg Brennan took a pass from low on the right from sophomore Nick Shaheen and fired an ankle-high shot past Wesleyan junior goalie Grant Covington to the near side with :32 left to lift unbeaten Trinity to a 7-6 victory over Wesleyan here today in men's lacrosse action. Trinity, which extended its unbeaten string to eight games to start the year, is ranked 14th nationally in Division III. Wesleyan, which dropped its third in a row after a 6-0 start, is ranked 18th in the country.
The Bantams ended a 13-game losing streak vs. Wesleyan with the triumph, its first since a 9-8 home victory in 2000. Wesleyan captured last year's meeting in Hartford, 8-3, its 37th win in the series. Trinity secured its 19th series victory today.
Watch the game-winning goal by Greg Brennan
The Bantams jumped ahead 3-0 in the opening 6:22 of the game as senior Kevin Looby scored twice, sandwiching a goal by junior long-pole Eric Phillips. Looby put home the opening goal at 11:45 on a bouncer off a pass by sophomore Rob Nogueras before Phillips scooped up the ensuing faceoff and raced into the zone to score just 13 seconds later, also with a bouncer. Looby's second goal, and ninth of the year, came from sophomore Jeff Hebert on a feed from low on the right side.
Wesleyan netted two of the next three goals to make it a 4-2 game, but Trinity scored a pair in the final 1:14 of the half to gain a 6-2 lead at intermission. Nogueras and Shaheen each set the other up for a tally to wrap up the first-half scoring. Wesleyan controlled the tempo most of the game as Trinity owned a 9-1 edge in shots midway through the first quarter but Wesleyan outshot its visitor, 33-15, the rest of the way and rallied with four straight goals in the second half to tie the game with 11:33 remaining on the second goal of the contest by freshman Aidan Daniell. His shot from a soft angle on the right after a pass by freshman Chris Walsh evened the count and upped his goals for the season to 10. Daniell had Wesleyan first goal of the game while junior John Froats had the second.
Froats assisted on the opening goal of the second half, that by senior Conor Malangone with just 1:28 off the clock, making it 6-3. At 5:27, an unassisted goal by long-pole freshman Elliott Albert, who ran and dodged his way up the left side before scoring his first career goal, made it 6-4. Junior Teddy Citrin's quick-stick release off Daniell's pass at 14:29 of the fourth quarter made it 6-5. It was Citrin's team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Wesleyan had possession much of the time from the 10-minute mark to the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but a costly turnover on a dropped pass with 2:12 left gave the Bantams the ball as Trinity junior keeper junior Peter Johnson got to the loose ball and started the final clear of the game for his team. After calling timeout in the Wesleyan zone with 1:56 left, Trinity got off one wide shot and a battle ensued for the loose ball in the left corner. A slashing penalty was called against Wesleyan with 1:11 to go, giving the Bantams their fifth man-up situation of the game. They were 0-for-4 to that point. Another Trinity shot early in the penalty went wide and the Bantams maintained possession behind the net. Just 13 seconds later, Brennan found the net with what proved to be the game-winner. Sophomore Tim Reichert then won his eighth faceoff of the game with only two losses as Phillips collected the loose ball and Trinity ran out the clock.
Johnson had a stellar game in the Trinity net, making 13 stops, eight of them in the second half. Covington had six saves for Wesleyan.
Trinity had a tremendous edge in faceoffs, winning 13 of 17, and held the margin in grounders, 32-24, despite Wesleyan's 35-24 advantage in the shot department.
Both teams have key NESCAC games coming up Sat., April 9 as Wesleyan hosts a capable Colby squad while Trinity hosts undefeated and top-ranked nationally Tufts in a battle of the unbeatens with first-place in the NESCAC standings riding on the outcome.
Box score
