Williamstown, Mass. – Trinity junior goalie Julia Pitino (Littleton, Mass.) dove to her left, knocked the ball away from the goal, and sent the Trinity College women's soccer team to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Soccer Championship game tomorrow with a victory over top-seeded Williams in a 1-1 semifinals game that was decided by penalty kicks. The Bantams move to 11-3-3 overall and eliminate the defending National Champion Ephs, ranked No. 2 in the country, from the conference tournament. Trinity will play in its first NESCAC Championship game in program history tomorrow at noon in Williamstown against the winner of this afternoon's second semifinal game between Amherst and Middlebury.

Neither team recorded a shot on goal in the first ten minutes of action due to stingy defense by both teams. The Bantams had the first true scoring opportunity of the game in the 32nd minute off a corner kick by senior captain Kendra Lena (Madison, Conn.) that found classmate Nicole Stauffer (Cheshire, Conn.) in front of the net, but Stauffer's shot missed wide left. A few minutes later, Williams had a great look on a give-and-go in the box that resulted in a shot by Audrey Thomas (Bellevue, Wash.) but Pitino dove to her left to make the save and keep the Ephs off the scoreboard. With 12:31 to go in the first half, first-year midfielder Tricia Pollock (Beverly, Mass.) received a pass from junior Tori Dunn (Washington, D.C.) at the top of the Williams box and sent a missile past Eph keeper Olivia Barnhill (New York, N.Y.) into the back of the net to put the visitors up, 1-0.

The Bantam back line, anchored by senior tri-captain Sheena Landy (Durham, Conn.) and juniors Alexa Barbaresi (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Kristina Caradonna (Lynnfield, Mass.), and first-year Kelly Lucas (Ludlow, Mass.) followed up their stellar quarterfinals performances with a strong first half, coming up with a handful of defensive saves in the last five minutes of the half to preserve the 1-0 at the break. Pitino finished the first 45 minutes with four saves.

Williams came out aggressive in the second half and tied things at one, less than eight minutes into the period. The Ephs were awarded a set piece just outside of Trinity's box that was sent into a cluster of jerseys before Kristi Kirshe (Franklin, Mass.) controlled it and sent a shot past Pitino into goal. Pitino came up big just a few minutes later, scrambling to save another shot from Kirshe, followed by a good clear by Barbaresi. With eight minutes to play in regulation, Williams senior Katie Wardlaw (San Marino, Calif.) fired a shot on goal that redirected off a teammate, but a diving save by Pitino pushed the ball wide-left of the net and out of bounds to keep things tied at one. Landy came up clutch with a defensive save on an Eph set piece with less than three minutes remaining as she cleared a lob-shot out of the box to thwart the scoring opportunity. A final offensive push from the Bantams in the last minute went without incident, sending the game to overtime.

A scoreless first overtime period gave way to a wild second overtime in which both teams had opportunities to win the game. Williams created a good scoring chance early in the second extra session that led to a shot by Thomas, however good defense by Caradonna and Lucas kept the ball away from net. The Ephs were awarded a subsequent corner kick that was sent into the box and drew a Trinity hand ball which gave the hosts a penalty shot, however, the ensuing free shot missed high and wide, keeping Trinity's hopes alive. With 53 seconds to play, Williams thought they scored a game winning goal, but an Eph player was whistled for offsides which erased the score. The Bantams were given a free-kick with less than 20 seconds left and nearly won the game when Pollock blasted a shot on goal, but the ball hit the top crossbar and the Williams defense cleared it to send the game to penalty kicks.

Pitino shut the door on the first Eph penalty kick which was followed by a successful attempt from Landy to give Trinity a 1-0 advantage. Williams junior Evan Gancedo (Pasadena, Calif.) answered for the Ephs, however Lena put the Bantams back up, 2-1, as she blasted the ball into the upper left corner of the net. Pitino came up in a big way on the following Eph shot, recording her second stop in three chances to keep a 2-1 advantage in Trinity's favor. Pollock came up next for the Bantams and planted the ball into the back of the net which put Williams in a must convert situation on the following kick. Pitino played the hero for the Bantams as she dove to her left and denied Williams' final chance, sending the Trinity players onto the field in a frenzied celebration.