Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College Bantams opened the 2014 women's soccer season in style with a 5-0 home win over the University of St. Joseph Blue Jays this afternoon.  Trinity, ranked No. 8 in New England, takes the first-ever meeting between the crosstown rivals, handing the Blue Jays their first loss in three games this year.  Trinity opens New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on Saturday, September 6 at Hamilton.           

Trinity jumped on St. Joe's early when senior forward Karyn Barrett (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) sent a through ball into the box that sophomore forward Laura Nee (Duxbury, Mass.) finished into the lower left of the goal 3:08 into the contest.  The Bantams took a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute when senior tri-captain midfielder Elisa Dolan (Bethesda, Md.) found sophomore Nicole Stauffer (Cheshire, Conn.) for Stauffer's first career tally, and rookie Tori Dunn (Washington, D.C.) received a pass down the left sideline by sophomore midfielder Kendra Lena (Madison, Conn.) just 10 minutes later and beat both her Blue Jay defender and St. Joseph junior goalie Melissa Dodge (Watertown, Conn.) before poking in the first goal of her collegiate career.             

Trinity, which outshot the Blue Jays, 13-1, in the first half and, 15-1, in the second, took a 4-0 lead in the 62nd minute, as Barrett controlled the ball after her own shot was deflected at the top of the box and touched it back a couple of feet to Dolan who blasted the ball into the upper left corner of the net.  St. Joseph senior goalkeeper Ashley Hebert (Wolcott, Conn.) entered the game at the 68:01 mark, and immediately made her presence known with impressive saves on two hard blasts by Bantam junior Kelsey Thomas (Stonington, Conn.), and another by senior tri-captain Maggie Crowe (Lowell, Mass.) off a corner kick.  Thomas finally got one past Hebert with 2:13 left in regular time, settling the ball in the right side of the box after a corner kick and left-footing the ball past the Blue Jay keeper's right shoulder to round out the scoring.  Dodge and Hebert combined for 13 saves, while Trinity junior goalkeeper Monica DiFiori (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had one stop to extend her personal streak of scoreless play to 203 minutes and record her third shutout in four games.