Hartford, Conn. – Junior attackman Jeff Hebert (Cornwall, Ontario) had two goals and one assist and the Trinity College Bantams held off a late rally by the visiting Western Connecticut State University Colonials for a 9-8 in men's lacrosse action this afternoon on Jessee/Miller Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 6 in New England and No. 19 in the nation, improves to 6-2 with its sixth consecutive victory, while the Colonials fall to 5-4 with their second loss in a row.

Trinity built a 5-1 lead after the first quarter, as five different Bantams scored goals before the first break.  Colonial senior midfielder Mike Schoen (Tolland, Conn.) scored the lone goal of the second quarter on an extra-man opportunity to make the score, 5-2, at halftime.  The teams traded tallies back and forth throughout the third period, resulting in an 8-5 Trinity advantage with one quarter remaining.  Trinity sophomore midfielder Chris Sweitzer (Wilmette, Ill.) scored what proved to be a pivotal insurance goal with 12:50 left in the game, as Colonial senior attackman Ryan Gillis (Norwich, Conn.) ignited a three-goal spurt over the final minutes with his third score of the game to pull the visitors within one at 9-8.  Western Connecticut freshman attackman Nick Foley (Walple, Mass.) completed the 3-0 run with 2:52 left in the contest. Trinity won the ensuing face off but Western Connecticut forced a turnover before Gillis' hard shot from close in traffic with 40 seconds sailed just wide of the net .

Trinity junior midfielder Nick Shaheen (Williamsburg, Mass.) scored twice, while O'Connell finished with one goal and one assist, and senior captain goalie Peter Johnson (Riverside, Conn.) made eight saves.  Bantam junior LSM Dominic Piselli (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) notched five ground balls and four caused turnovers, while senior captain defenseman Alex Gottsch (Sparks, Md.) and junior defenseman Chris Novick (Charlotte, N.C.) picked up four ground balls apiece.  Gillis totaled three goals and one assist, while senior attackman Jason Szabo (Apharetta, Ga.) and Foley scored twice each for Western Connecticut.  Senior Tyler Martone (Cheshire, Conn.) had eight saves in the Colonial cage, and senior Eric Small (Glastonbury, Conn.) scooped a game-high seven ground balls and won 16 of his 21 face offs.

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