Clermont, Fla. – In a rematch of last season's National Championship, a late surge fell short for the Trinity women's lacrosse team against Salisbury on Tuesday morning as the Bantams lost, 11-8. With the win, the top ranked Seagulls improved to 6-0, while the No. 6 ranked Bantams lost their second straight to move to 4-2.

Trailing 9-5 late in the second half, Trinity scored three unanswered goals to pull within one. Junior Renee Olson (Ridgewood, N.J.) started the rally with a free position goal and Molly Cox (Mendham, N.J.) and Martha Griffin (Exeter, N.H.) added tallies to make it 9-8 with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation.

Down the stretch, Salisbury pulled away as Kate Haker and Kara O'Rouke fired shots past Bantams netminder Emily Mooney (New York, N.Y.).

"I'm very pleased with our effort," Trinity Head Coach Kate Livesay said. "We made some defensive adjustments at halftime and gave them a different look which settled things down for us."

In the first half, the two squads traded goals early as Shelby Nemecek scored for Salisbury and Shea Kusiak (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored the first of her two goals on the day for Trinity. With the game knotted at one, the Seagulls scored five consecutive goals before Kusiak scored on a free position shot to make it 6-2. Bethany Baer built the Salisbury lead back to five with a goal just before halftime.

The difference in the contest was draw controls as Salisbury won 15-of-22 which led to them controlling possession and outshooting Trinity, 16-12. The Bantams converted 3-of-4 free position shots, while the Seagulls scored on their only opportunity.

Mooney turned aside five shots in a losing effort, while Ashton Wheatley made four saves to earn the victory for the Seagulls.

"We've played a lot of games early in the season," Livesay added. "That is good for our team because we are gaining experience and each game we are improving like today, which was a step in the right direction for us."

The Bantams return to action on Thursday, mar. 20, squaring off with McDaniel in non-conference action at 5 p.m.