Middletown, Conn. – The Trinity College women's hockey team snapped a 1-1 tie in the second period with two unanswered goal en route to a 4-2 triumph over Wesleyan in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon inside Spurrier-Snyder Rink in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action. With their third straight victory, the Bantams enter the postseason with a 15-6-2 overall record and an 8-6-2 mark in league play, while Cardinals move to 8-14-1 on the year and 3-12-1 in conference tilts.

The victory proved particularly fortuitous for Trinity.  Combined with a 1-0 loss by Conn. College in its final game vs. Williams, the Bantams vaulted to the number three seed in the conference standings and will host a first-round game next Sat., Feb. 28 against the number six seed in the NESCAC Championship Tournament quarterfinals.  Conn. College dropped to fourth place. Trinity's opponent for next weekend is still undetermined as three of the bottom four seeds have games remaining to be played tonight and tomorrow.

Scoring the goal that put Trinity ahead for good in the second was senior Lucy Robinson (Toronto, Ontario) as she worked a perfectly executed two-on-one break with junior Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.).  Tani brought the puck up the right side into the Wesleyan zone, drew the defense and passed left to an open Robinson who went in alone to beat Cardinals junior goalie Corinne Rivard for her 16th goal of the season, tying her with junior Cheeky Herr (Princeton, N.J.)  for the team lead.

Just over three minutes into the final period, the visitors stretched their lead to two as Tani scored her eight of the season on a great individual rush up the left side after getting a pass in center ice from sophomore Jessica Stowell (Hadley, Mass.).  Tani turned past the Cardinal defense through the left circle and slid the puck from in front past Rivard to make it a 3-1 Bantam advantage.

Wesleyan cut the difference to 3-2 when sophomore Ellery Sarosi finished off a rush up the left side with help from senior Cara Jankowski, sliding the puck under a falling first-year Trinity goaltender Sydney Belinskas (Port Orange, Fla.) from in close at 6:52.  The score remained unchanged for the next 12 minutes despite penalties to both teams with Trinity's coming with just 3:28 left.  Shortly after the penalty expired, Rivard was lifted for a sixth skater and Trinity immediately got the puck out of its zone with work from sophomore Alessandra Bravi (Toronto, Ontario).  Senior Lauren Fitzgerald (Milton, Mass.) gained control along the right boards just inside the Wesleyan zone and sent a hard low shot just inside the left post for the empty-netter with 1:13 to play.  It was her 12th tally of the campaign.

Trinity had taken a 1-0 lead at the 7:17 mark of the first period when Stowell took a shot from the right point into a maze of players in front of the Wesleyan net.  The puck deflected off the stick of freshman Hannah Oganeku (Castle Pines, Colo.) and rose on its way under the crossbar just inside the left post.  Junior Brooke Heron (Ridegfield, Conn.) also picked up an assist on the third seasonal tally by Oganeku.

Wesleyan responded 3:18 later when junior Jess Brennan took a pass from sophomore Madzie Carroll from the left point, controlled the puck, then spun to take a low backhand shot that went between the pads of Belinskas for her third goal of the season.

Trinity held a 30-20 edge in shots on goal in the contest while improving its all-time record vs. Wesleyan to 19-12-3.

Between the pipes, Belinskas made 18 saves to record her 10th win of the winter for Trinity, while Rivard turned aside 26 shots in a losing effort for Wesleyan.

Box Score