Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Whitney (Danvers, Mass.) made eight saves and did not allow a goal for the final 50:30 of the game, while senior co-captain attacker Rachel Romanowsky (Hampstead, N.H.) had a hand in more than half of her team's goals, leading the Trinity College Bantams to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Colby College Mules in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Finals this afternoon on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 2 in the nation and seeded No. 1 in the tourney field, improves to a best-ever 17-0 and earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.  No. 3-seeded Colby, ranked No. 11 nationally, drops to 13-4 and will likely earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when they are announced this evening.  The Mules had beaten the Bantams, 14-12, in Trinity's only previous appearance in the NESCAC Finals, in 2008 at Middlebury.  Colby was playing in its fifth straight NESCAC Finals, having won the league crown in 2008 and 2009.  Trinity becomes the first team since Middlebury in 2004 to complete the regular season and the NESCAC Tournament without a loss.   

Both Whitney and Colby senior goalkeeper Sarah Warnke (Lakeville, Mass.) made saves early in the game before Mule freshman midfielder Katharine Eddy (Cheshire, Conn.) netted the only goal of the entire first half from sophomore attacker Kate Pistel (Amherst, Mass.).  Warnke was a wall in the first 30 minutes, making 11 saves and keeping Trinity scoreless, while Whitney made three stops including two in a row on free positions by Mule freshman attacker Lindsey McKenna (Fairfield, Conn.) with just under 13 minutes left in the first half.  McKenna earned a third straight free-position during the Colby possession, but Bantam senior defender Emma Lynch (Washington, D.C.) drew a charge to keep the Bantams within one.  Trinity nearly tied it in the final minute, but a hard shot by sophomore midfielder Megan Leonhard (Summit, N.J.) caromed off the cross bar.

Trinity junior midfielder Liz Bruno (Andover, Mass.) controlled the draw coming out of intermission, and Romanowsky broke the Bantam scoring slump with a high shot from the left wing to tie the score at 1-1 with 28:54 on the clock.  Bantam senior co-captain Alisen Urquhart (Redding, Conn.) came up with the ball on the ensuing draw, and Bruno scored moments later with a sidearm shot while moving from left to right across the front of the net to give Trinity its first lead at 2-1 just 55 seconds later.  Leonhard scored from Romanowsky with 25:57 remaining for the first of five Trinity insurance goals, before Colby took possession of the ball for the first time after the break on the next draw.  Whitney made a pair of saves over the next minute, and the Bantam defense held Colby to just five shots the rest of the way.

"We needed to break the ice, so we were sort of waiting for that first goal," Trinity coach Kate Livesay said. "But I was pleased with our players' patience throughout the first half: to not score but still be threatening and have the kind of ball movement we had was good. We weren't overly rattled. We felt good going into the second half." 

Romanowsky finished with two goals and two assists, and tied the NESCAC Tournament scoring record with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists in three games, while Leonhard added a pair of goals.  Bruno notched a game-high four draw controls and tied Urquhart for the team lead in ground balls with three apiece.  Warnke had 15 saves and three ground balls for Colby, while senior tri-captain defender Mary Cummings (Summit, N.J.) also picked up three ground balls, and junior midfielder Claire Donegan (Great Falls, Va.) caused a pair of Bantam turnovers.  Trinity outshot Colby, 32-15, and forced 14 turnovers while committing eight.  The teams were a combined 0-for-12 on free positions.

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