Middlebury, Vt. – The No. 3-ranked Trinity College Bantams closed the first half on a five-goal run on its way to a 13-9 win over the No. 7-ranked Middlebury College Panthers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse action this afternoon on Kohn Field. The Bantams improve to 11-0 overall, 7-0 in NESCAC play, while the Panthers fall to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in the league.

The game was back and forth early, with the Panthers taking a 2-1 lead at the 24:07 mark on a goal from Katie Ritter after a feed from Margaret Souther. Trinity answered before Ritter converted a free position shot to give her team a 3-2 advantage. Bantam junior midfielder Megan Leonhard (Summit, N.J.) converted a free position with a low shot, before Liza Herzog put the Panthers on top 4-3 with 14:45 left in the first half.  Trinity followed with five goals in a span of 12:08, taking an 8-4 lead with 1:23 remaining in the first half. Junior attacker Kaitlin Hildebrand (Berwyn, Pa.) scored the final two goals of the run, her second coming on a feed from classmate Hadley Duncan (Rye, N.Y.) after a nice rush downfield.

Middlebury scored three of the first four goals in the second half to make it a 9-7 game with 20:19 remaining. Ritter netted her third during the fun, with free position tallies from Michaela Colbert and Elizabeth Garry.  Duncan scored quickly off the draw control for Trinity, with Souther answering for the Panthers, cutting across the crease. The Bantams gained some breathing room with three straight goals, two from Duncan, taking a 13-8 advantage with 4:26 remaining. Souther added a late goal on a free position to make it a 13-9 final. 

Trinity held a 29-19 shots advantage, holding Middlebury to 12 clears in 22 attempts. Duncan scored  game-high four goals to go along with an assist, followed by three from Leonhard with four ground balls. Rookie attacker Caroline Hayes (Greenland, N.H.) also earned four ground balls with three draw controls in the win. Junior defender Mallory Hinman (Longmeadow, Mass.) caused three turnovers with four ground balls. Junior Olivia Whitney (Danvers, Mass.) made four saves in goal to earn the win.  Ritter's three paced the Panthers, with two goals and one assist from Souther. Liza Herzog won six draw controls, Ritter picked up four ground balls, while Lucy Jackson caused three turnovers. Lily Nguyen made 12 saves in net.

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