Middlebury, Vt. - Despite scoring the first goal of the game, the No. 5 seeded Trinity College women's hockey team was unable to stave off the top-seeded Middlebury Panthers in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Hockey Championship Tournament. Trinity drops its first game since February 6 while Middlebury, still yet to lose against conference opponents, is 13-0-3 this year. The Panthers advance to tomorrow's championship game against the winner of this afternoon's game between Conn College and Amherst.

Trinity's first scoring chance came less than three minutes into the first period when senior captain Shannon Farrell (Kennebunk, Maine) found herself on a one-on-one with Panther goalie Julia Neuburger (Fayetteville, N.Y.). Farrell ripped a shot on net but Neuburger brushed it aside to keep the scoreless game intact. Middlebury put up six shots on goal during the period but Trinity sophomore goalie Sydney Belinskas (Port Orange, Fla.) saved everything that came her way. Bantam sophomore forward Kelcie Finn (Weymouth, Mass.) had a clean look at net with two minutes to play and rifled a shot towards the Panthers net  but Neuburger yanked it out of the air with her glove for the save. With 1:30 left in the period, Middlebury was whistled for a tripping penalty that gave the Bantams a skater advantage. Trinity made good on the power play when Belinskas stopped a Middlebury shot and passed the puck up ice to a streaking Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.) who fired a wrist shot into the top shelf of the net to give Trinity a 1-0 lead with 12.4 seconds to play in the period.

Middlebury picked up the pace to start the second period with junior Allie Aiello (Maplewood, N.J.) firing a shot just wide of the net less than three minutes in, to no avail. A minute later, Anna Van Kula (Radnor, Pa.) had a chance to tie the game, controlling the puck in front of the net with Belinskas out of position, but the Bantams goalie was able to recover just in time to swat away Van Kula's backhander on net. Middlebury evened the score at the 11:03 mark when on a power play, freshman Jenna Marotta (Katy, Texas) fired a slapshot past Belinskas for her first career goal as a Panther. With just over seven minutes to go in the period, the Bantams caught Middlebury in a poor line change as Finn dropped the puck to an open Kate Fraley (Edina, Minn.) who rifled a shot towards net, however Neuburger brushed it aside to keep the game knotted at one. The Bantams were called for hooking with just under four minutes to go in the period, and Middlebury took advantage. Panther sophomore Maddie Winslow (Manchester, Vt.) received a pass from Julia Wardwell (Marlborough, Mass.) and fired a slapshot that initially hit Belinskas blocker but bounced across the crease line into the net, giving Middlebury a 2-1 lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms for the second intermission.

Trinity started the third period on the power play due to an interference call on the Panthers to end the second frame. Finn fired a quick wrist shot for Trinity off of a faceoff in the Middlebury zone, but right at Neuburger as the Panther goalie gobbled it up for the save. That was Trinity's best scoring chance with the advantage as Middlebury killed the remainder of the penalty to keep the game 2-1 in its favor. Farrell had a good look at the net, getting a shot on goal with 5:46 remaining off of a rebound, but once again, Neuburger was there for the save. The Bantams called a timeout with 53.2 seconds left, trailing still by one, to draw up a plan to net the equalizer. With Belinskas pulled from net, giving the Bantams an extra attacker, the Panthers controlled the faceoff and dumped it into Trinity's zone, before Jessica Young (Mission Hills, Kan.) controlled the puck and flicked it into the empty net, giving Middlebury the 3-1 victory.