Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College Bantams downed the visiting Wesleyan University Cardinals, 2-1, in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) field hockey action this evening on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 12 in the nation, closes its regular season with an 11-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in the NESCAC.  Wesleyan completes its regular-season campaign with a 7-7 overall record and a 4-6 conference record, having dropped three games in a row.  Trinity, which had already qualified for its eighth NESCAC Championship Tournament and its fifth in a row as the No. 4 seed, will host a quarterfinal game against No 14-ranked and No. 5-seeded Amherst on Saturday, October 27.  No. 7-seeded Wesleyan plays its NESCAC Quarterfinal game at Tufts on Saturday.

Trinity led, 2-0, at the break and held of the Cardinals in the second half.  Shortly after a rocket by senior co-captain midfielder Haley Thompson (Ipswich, Mass.) sailed wide left of the cage, Bantam rookie forward Olivia Tapsall (Greenwich, Conn.) slapped in a shot from close for a 1-0 lead for the home team 18:30 into the game.  Bantam junior defender Sarah Duncan (Dedham, Mass.) sent the ball into the scoring area, and senior forward Hadley Duncan (Rye, N.Y.) redirected it to set up Tapsall.  Sarah Duncan scored Trinity's second goal 4:15 later, converting on a feed by Thompson.

Wesleyan got on the board 6:53 into the second stanza when senior co-captain forward Ashley MacLaren (Essex Junction, Vt.) scored from junior defender Taylor Wells (Darien, Conn.) off a penalty corner.  Hadley Duncan nearly gave Trinity an insurance goal in the final two minutes, but her shot toward the left end of the cage from close was knocked away by diving Cardinal senior co-captain backstop Tori Redding (Branford, Conn.).  Trinity junior goalie Anne Marie Scalambrino (Chicago, Ill.) made four saves in front of a stalwart Bantam defense including Sarah Duncan, senior co-captain Lauren Slattery (Westford, Mass.), junior Lyndsey Shepard (Hamilton, Mass.), and sophomore Courtney Wynne (Darien, Conn.) that surrendered just six shots over 70 minutes.  Redding stopped five shots for Wesleyan.

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