Chester, Pa. - The Trinity College Bantams scored five second-half goals but could not overcome a 5-0 deficit at intermission and lost, 9-5, to the Middlebury College Panthers in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse National Championship Finals this afternoon at Talen Energy Stadium.  Trinity, playing in its fifth consecutive NCAA Championship game, ends the year with a 19-4 record having fallen short in four national title games in a row after winning the 2012 NCAA crown.  Middlebury wins its sixth NCAA Championship and its first since 2004. 

"At halftime we still knew we had a chance and we chipped away and chipped away, but their goalie made some saves and we ran out of time," said Trinity Head Coach Katy Dissinger.  "We wanted this so bad for our seniors, both the All-Americans and the role players, because of the tremendous positive impact they have made on our program and they examples they have set for our younger players."

The game was scoreless for the first 13:28 of play, before Middlebury senior midfielder Laurel Pascal (Greenwich, Conn.) scored on a free position.  Neither team shot for the first three minutes of the game, before Trinity sophomore attacker Abby McInerney (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) was denied by senior goalie Katie Mandigo (Cornwall, Vt.) on a free-position shot at the 26:45 mark.  The Bantams forced turnovers on the first two Panther possessions and sophomore goalkeeper Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) made a clutch save against Middlebury junior attacker Mary O'Connell (Norwell, Mass.) who had gotten behind the Trinity defense with 22:35 on the clock.  Trinity played for two minutes with an extra attacker just under the 19-minute mark but got off just a single shot, and Middlebury scored the game's first goal moments later.

Trinity received a yellow card with just over 10 minutes left in the first half, and the Panthers took advantage when O'Connell fed sophomore midfielder Hollis Pericone (Norwalk, Conn.) from the right side for a 2-0 Panther lead with 15:36 remaining before the break.  The remained at 2-0 for the next 11-plus minutes, as the teams combined for five turnovers, including two caused by Bantam senior co-captain midfielder Martha Griffin (Exeter, N.H.), and the goalies made three saves between them.  The third goal of the game was scored when Middlebury freshman Alex White (Dover, Mass.) forced a turnover and Perticone beat Ferguson with a bouncer in transition at the 4:26 mark.  Ferguson made a save on Panther senior attacker Bridget Intrum (Granby, Mass.) at 2:17 and junior defender Lara Guida (Mendham, N.J.) picked up the ground ball, but Trinity turned the ball back over, and the Panthers scored twice in the final 45 seconds of the first stanza to take a 5-0 lead at the break.

Early in the second stanza, the goalies traded saves on free-position shots, as Trinity sophomore attacker Allie Barrett (Concord, Mass.) was stopped by Mandigo one minute into play and Bantam senior goalie Emily Mooney (New York, N.Y.) saved a shot by Pascal 1:50 after being inserted into the game at the half.  After Instrum scored her second goal of the game at the 25:37 mark to put Middlebury ahead, 6-0, Trinity junior attacker Clare Lyne (Concord, Mass.) knifed her way through the Panther defense and scored the first Bantam goal with 22:27 on the clock.  McInerney assisted on the play.

Lyne scored again 2:25 later, bouncing a free-position shot past Mandigo after Mooney had given Trinity possession with an interception behind her goal.  After a pair of Middlebury goals, scored by Pascal and freshman Emma McDonagh (Reading, Mass.), Lyne completed a hat trick with another bouncer off a feed from the right side by junior midfielder Karly Simpson (South Hadley, Mass.) to make the score, 8-3, with 13:42 left to play.  O'Connell and Trinity junior Kiley Coffey (West Newbury, Mass.) traded goals over the next five-plus minutes, and Simpson added another assist when she fed McInerney in traffic to pull the Bantams to within 9-5 with 5:45 on the clock. Trinity got off just one shot the rest of the way, a wide attempt by Lyne, and the Bantams were called for a foul on the their final possession after junior Emma Malicki (Loudonville, N.Y.) had passed the ball from behind to Coffey in front of the net.  The Panthers held the ball for the final 3:10 of the game.

The teams played close to even statistically, although Middlebury won five of six draw controls in the first half en route to a 10-to-6 edge for the game.  Lyne led all scorers with her three goals, while Simpson was the lone player to record two assists.  Griffin paced Trinity with four draw controls and three caused turnovers, while senior co-captain defender Ashley Stewart (Dover, Mass.) added four ground balls and two caused turnovers, and Guida finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.  Griffin, Lyne, and Stewart represented Trinity on the weekend's all-tournament team.  Ferguson made three saves and Mooney notched five saves, two ground balls, and a caused turnover.  Perticone added four draw controls to her two goals, while senior Chrissy Ritter (Middlebury, Vt.) registered three gound balls and three caused turnovers for the Panthers.  Mandigo made eight saves and scooped five ground balls to collect tournament MVP honors.

"Our class of six seniors has been able to play in every possible lacrosse game for four years and that accomplishment is something that I am so grateful for," said Griffin. "It's been an amazing ride despite the ending."

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