Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College field hockey team moved into a first-place tie with Bowdoin and Tufts with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Middlebury College Panthers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) field hockey action this afternoon on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 12 nationally, improves to 10-2 overall and 5-2 in the NESCAC entering a noon tilt at home on Senior Day against No. 5-ranked Tufts tomorrow at noon with its first win over the Panthers since 2010.  No. 4-ranked Middlebury falls to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the league.  Tufts and No. 2-ranked Bowdoin were upset by Connecticut College and Hamilton, respectively, today to move the Bantams into the three-team logjam at the top of the standings.

Trinity scored its first goal 10:46 into the contest on a penalty corner when junior forward Kelcie Finn (Weymouth, Mass.) sent a shot at the cage from the top of the circle that was redirected past Panther senior goalkeeper Emily Miller (Winston-Salem, N.C.) by sophomore forward Chandler Solimine (Pelham, N.Y.).  The Bantam defense, led by sophomore Molly Reilly (Andover, Mass.) and first-year Callyn Cass (Summit, N.J.), held the Panthers without a shot in the first half, while Trinity forced Miller to make eight of her nine stops before the break. 

Finn scored 1:15 into the second stanza on another penalty corner, blasting the ball past Miller with assists by senior tri-captain Mia Olsen (Granby, Conn.) and first-year Nicole Quinlan (Duxbury, Mass.).  Trinity goalie Lori Berger (Scottsdale, Ariz.) made four of her six saves during a 3:15 stretch in the middle of the second half, and Finn beat Miller on a penalty stroke with 8:55 remaining in the contest to give the Bantams a three-goal cushion.  Berger finished with six saves for her third shutout of the fall.