Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College women's hockey team knocked off New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in-state rival Wesleyan University, 3-1, on Friday evening as the team honored its six seniors before the game. Trinity improves to 12-8-1 overall and 5-7-1 in conference play while Wesleyan falls to 4-15-1 and 1-11-1 in NESCAC action. The Bantams have now won eight out of their last 10 games.

In a tightly played first period, it was Trinity who struck first when freshman Allison Slowe (Medfield, Mass.) received a pass from sophomore Caroline Howell (Lyme, N.H.) and converted her second goal in as many games to put the Bantams up 1-0 with just under ten minutes to play in the first. 

The second period was scoreless with Trinity's best chance coming via a slapshot from senior captain Shannon Farrell (Kennebunk, Maine) that flew wide right of the goal by a few inches. Cardinal senior goalie Lauren Corcoran (Oakville, Ontario) stopped all 12 Trinity shots she faced in the period to preserve the one goal deficit as both teams entered the second intermisson.

Wesleyan nearly tied the game almost three minutes into the third frame when Wesleyan senior co-captain Laura Mead (Morrisville, N.J.) flipped the puck towards Trinity goalie Sydney Belinskas (Port Orange, Fla.) who initially batted the puck down, but was unable to control it. A scrum in front of the net ensued as Belinskas finally covered the puck, however after the whistle, Belinskas was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave the Cardinals a one-skater advantage for two minutes. With Wesleyan's power play offense set up in the Trinity defensive zone, Bantam sophomore defender Delaney Harrop (Walpole, Mass.) intercepted a Wesleyan pass and got it to a streaking Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.) who beat Corcoran one-on-one as she dragged the puck in front of the goalie's glove and flipped a backhand shot into the net as Trinity went up 2-0 with 16:05 to play.

Trinity almost added its third goal just under the ten minute mark when junior Kate Fraley (Edina, Minn.) and sophomore Melissa Maffeo (Melrose, Mass.) both had clean looks at net but were stoned cold by Corcoran. Wesleyan was called for a delay-of-game penalty 11:13 into the period that Trinity took advantage of when sophomore Hannah Oganeku (Castle Pines, Colo.) received a pass from Farrell that she flipped into the top shelf of the net past Corcoran to put the hosts up 3-0 with less than ten minutes to play. Wesleyan stopped the shutout with 4:26 to play when Bridget Sherman (Washington, D.C.) scored a breakaway goal, however it was not enough as Trinity came away with the 3-1 victory.

The two teams play again tomorrow, February 13, at Wesleyan in the second game of the home-away series. Game time is set for 3 p.m.