Chester, Pa. – The Trinity College Bantams finished as the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Runner-Up for the third year in a row, suffering a 17-6 setback against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons this afternoon at PPL Park.  Trinity, playing in its fourth NCAA Finals in a row, finishes the year with a 21-2 record with its first loss in 22 games but its third consecutive NCAA Finals setback.  The Red Dragons win their first NCAA title in their first NCAA Finals appearance but their sixth trip (fifth in a row) to the NCAA Final Four, and avenge NCAA Semifinal losses to the Bantams in 2012, 2013, and 2014.  Trinity had won the NCAA title in 2012, 8-7, over Salisbury and lost in the 2013 and 2014 finals to Salisbury.  Bantam junior midfielder Martha Griffin (Exeter, N.H.) had a hat trick and joined senior tri-captain midfielder Caroline Hayes (Greenland, N.H.) and sophomore attacker Clare Lyne (Concord, Mass.) on the all-tournament team.

"I am incredibly proud of this team for all that we have accomplished this season and this weekend, and of our five seniors for what they have done over their careers," said Trinity Head Coach Katy Dissinger (1st Season).  "Cortland State deserves all the credit in the world for keeping the pressure on us the whole game and capitalizing on their opportunities." 

Griffin took the game's first shot 56 seconds into the contest, but was stopped by Cortland State sophomore goalkeeper Jaclyn Beshlian, and the Red Dragons took a 2-0 lead three minutes into the game on goals by senior Emma Hayes Hurley and Hannah Elmer. Hayes beat Beshlian on a low shot to the right on a free position cut the Trinity deficit in half with 21:49 on the clock.  Trinity escaped a threat when freshman goalie Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) made a save against Hayes-Hurley while the Bantams played a player down due to a yellow card at the 20:12 mark, but the Red Dragons scored twice in a 1:21 span to go ahead, 4-1, with 11:37 on the clock.

Trinity had three free positions in the final 10 minutes of the second half, but Beshlian came up big with saves on chances by Lyne, first-year Allie Barrett (Concord, Mass.), and senior tri-captain attacker Renee Olsen (Ridgewood, N.J.).  All three saves came on low shots by the Bantams, and Cortland sophomore attacker Kristen Ohberg came immediately down the field and scored after the first two to put Cortland State up, 6-1, with 5:56 remaining in the first half.  Griffin broke a 17:13 Trinity scoring drought, converting on a pass from the right wide by Lyne at the 4:36 mark, but Cortland State answered with two goals in the final 16 seconds of the first stanza on consecutive quick passes off free positions to senior attacker Marilyn Farrell to take an 8-2 advantage into the break.

After an early Cortland State goal, Ohberg's fourth of the game, 1:01 into the second half, Trinity pulled to within five scores at 9-4 at the 20:59 mark on a free-position goal by Griffin and bouncing shot past Beshlian by Lyne off a pass from behind the net by Hayes.  The Red Dragons answered with back-to-back tallies by Tara Monaghan to push their lead back up to 11-4, and scored six of the game's final eight goals to finish with the 17-6 triumph.  It was just the third game this spring that saw Trinity yield a double-digit goal total.  Lyne and Griffin scored the two Bantam goals in the final 13 minutes.

"It was hard to walk off the field knowing it had been my last collegiate lacrosse game," said Hayes.  "I would not have wanted to go through experience in any other place or with any other teammates.  Trinity women's lacrosse is truly a family."

Cortland State finished with a 30-18 shooting edge and won 16 of the 25 draw controls, while Trinity committed 33 fouls to 23 for the Red Dragons.  Lyne and Hayes joined Griffin as multiple-point scorers for the Bantams with two goals and one assist and one goal and one assist, respectively, while sophomore attacker Nicole Stauffer (Cheshire, Conn.) added one assist.  Hayes also contributed two draw controls and two caused turnovers, while Trinity goalies Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Emily Mooney (New York, N.Y.) combined for nine saves including seven by Mooney after halftime.  Elmer and Ohberg notched four goals and one assist apiece for the Red Dragons, while Monaghan totaled three goals and game-highs of four ground balls and nine draw controls.  Beshlian finished with eight saves in the Cortland State cage.

"I was honored to play with our five seniors this year who got us here with their leadership, and I will take what I have learned from them and hopefully use it to get our team back here next spring," said Griffin.

Hartford Courant story

Post-Game Quotes