Hartford, Conn. - Senior co-captain Martha Griffin (Exeter, N.H.) and sophomores Allie Barrett (Concord, Mass.) and Abby McInerney (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) scored three goals apiece, including five in the second half, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 11-7 victory over the visiting Amherst College Lord Jeffs in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse action this evening on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 7 in the nation, finishes the regular season with a 13-2 record with its seventh consecutive win and its 25th in a row at home.  The five-time defending NESCAC Champion Bantams also clinch the top seed in the league championship tournament for the seventh season in a row with a 9-1 record in conference play.  No. 8-ranked Amherst closes its regular season at 11-3.  Trinity opens post-season play on Saturday, April 30 at noon against No. 8-seeded Williams and Amherst, seeded No. 3 in the tourney with a 7-3 league mark, hosts Hamilton on the same day at the same time.

Trinity clung to a 6-5 lead with 21:25 left to go after an Amherst goal by sophomore attackman Julia Crerend (New Canaan, Conn.), but the Bantams rattled off five goals in a row over the next 14 minutes to put the game away.  Sophomore Allie Barrett (Concord, Mass.) started the run with a goal from junior midfielder Nicole Stauffer (Cheshire, Conn.) with 17:46 on the clock, while Griffin scored twice and assisted McInerney on a third tally, and McInerney scored on a free position. McInerney took a pass from Griffin right in front of the Amherst goal, faked high, and then rolled the ball under Lord Jeff senior goalie Christy Forrest (Madison, Conn.) to put the home team ahead, 11-5, at the 7:48 mark.  Trinity held Amherst to just three shots on goal the rest of the way, although the Lord Jeffs scored on two of them including the second of the game by senior tri-captain Rachel Passarelli (Hamden, Conn.).

Trinity had built a 5-0 lead as Barrett scored two of five Bantam goals in the opening 18:36 of the contest.  Crerend broke the Lord Jeff scoring drought with a player-up goal on a free position with 8:07 remaining in the first half, igniting a 4-0 Amherst run that cut the Trinity advantage to 5-4 early in the second half on an unassisted goal by Lord Jeff sophomore attacker Mary Grace Cronin (Arlington, Mass.).  Griffin ended a 15:31 Trinity scoreless streak with a free-position shot at the 25:53 mark of the second stanza, and Cronin fed Crerend on the goal that made the score, 6-5.

Trinity finished with a 22-to-15 shooting advantage, doubled up the Lord Jeffs with a 16-to-8 edge on ground balls, and won 12 of 20 draw controls.  Senior co-captain defender Ashley Stewart (Dover, Mass.) racked up game-highs of four ground balls and five caused turnovers, while Griffin totaled three ground balls, four draw controls, and three caused turnovers for the Bantams. Sophomore Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) and senior Emily Mooney (New York, N.Y.) needed to make just three saves in the Trinity goal, while Forrest had seven stops to go with a pair of ground balls for Amherst.  Passarelli contributed three ground balls and two caused turnovers for the visitors.

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