Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore goalie Claudia Escue (Carbondale, Colo.) made 35 saves and junior forward Shannon Farrell (Kennebunk, Maine) notched a goal and an assist to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Middlebury College Panthers in NESCAC women's ice hockey action on Saturday evening at Williams Rink inside the Koeppel Community Sports Center. With the win, the Bantams improve to 1-1-1 overall and in conference play, while the Panthers suffered their first setback of the year to move to 2-1-1 on the year and in league tilts.

Trinity's triumph snapped a nine-game winless streak as the Bantams previously won at the beginning of February last season.

The back-and-forth contest saw three lead changes and two ties as Trinity erased an early two-goal deficit for the come-from-behind win.

With the score tied at three late in the second period, Farrell and senior tri-captain Lauren Fitzgerald (Milton, Mass.) came in on a 2-on-1 break and Fitzgerald found the back of the net for the eventual game winner.

Middlebury came out aggressive, scoring twice in the first five minutes of play to steal the momentum away from the hosts. The Panthers took advantage of an early Trinity body-checking penalty as Hannah Bielawski slammed a rebound past Escue. Just over a minute later, Middlebury added to its lead as sophomore forward Kelly Sherman scored on a deflection.

Trailing by two, the Bantams responded by scoring two unanswered goals one minute apart to tie the game. Farrell corralled a failed clear attempt and fired a shot from in between the circles that found the back of the net. After a Middlebury penalty, junior forward Cheeky Herr (Princeton, N.J.) potted her first marker of the season as Fitzgerald and first-year forward Kelcie Finn (Weymouth, Mass.) picked up the assists.

Thirty-three seconds after Herr's game-tying goal Sherman struck again to give the Panthers back the lead and close out the scoring in the opening period.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Trinity junior forward Emma Tani (Orange, Calif) came flying in on the wing and took a backhand that beat Middlebury goaltender Annabelle Jones short side to tie the game at three. The tally was Tani's first of the season and helped give momentum back to the Bantams.

In the final period, both teams had opportunities, but both Escue and Jones stood their ground.

Escue made 35 saves to earn her second career victory, while Jones turned aside 24 shots in a losing effort.

Special team played a big factor in the game as the Bantams killed nine of their 10 peanlties and the Panthers were successful on four of their five penalty kills.

Trinity concludes a season-opening four-game home stand on Sunday, Nov. 23, with a NESCAC game versus Middlebury. The contest between the Bantams and the Panthers gets underway at 4:00 p.m.

To watch Farrell's goal click here
To watch Tani's game-tying goal click here
To watch Fitzgerald's game winner click here