Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams opened up a 9-0 lead through almost 45 minutes before holding off the visiting York College Spartans, 10-5, in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinals this afternoon on Sheppard Field.  Bantam junior attackers Kiley Coffey (West Newbury, Mass.) and Grace O'Donnell (Yarmouth, Maine) had three goals apiece, while junior Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) had nine saves.  Trinity improves to 17-4 and advances to the NCAA Final Four for the sixth season in a row. York ends its year at 16-4.  The Bantams, which came back from a 6-1 deficit to win against Franklin and Marshall in yesterday's game, will face Gettysburg in the NCAA Semifinals on Saturday, May 27.

"Yesterday's win was great, but we talked about how it was important for us to wipe it from our minds today but also that we needed to came out stronger than we did in that game," said Trinity Head Coach Katy Dissinger.  "We were able to do that, but this is the NCAA Elite Eight and York, to their credit, came back on us in the second half and definitely went down fighting."

Trinity took an early 4-0 lead, as Coffey scored twice and O'Donnell had a goal and an assist in the opening 11:30.  York did not get off its first shot-on-goal until 12:45 remained in the first half and the free-position try by sophomore midfielder Claudia DiVenti (Monkton, Md.) was stopped by Ferguson.  Bantam junior tri-captain midfielder Karly Simpson (South Hadley, Mass.) ended a 13:35 scoring drought for both teams with a goal in transition with just under four minutes left before the break, and Ferguson made her second save moments later against a free-position shot by York senior tri-captain Katelyn Cattrano (Manchester, Md.).  Coffey scored a free-position goal with 30 seconds left, and York nearly got its first goal but a last-second bid by freshman Meghan Fox (Arlington, Va.) was wide and the teams went to halftime with the home team ahead, 6-0.

Simpson, O'Donnell, and senior tri-captain attacker Clare Lyne (Concord, Mass.) scored early goals in the second half to up the Bantam lead to 9-0 with 16:57 on the clock, but sophomore attacker Skye Slater (Moorestown, N.J.) got the Spartans on the board at the 15:25 mark with a hard shot from the right side with an assist credited to senior attacker Kelly Curran (North Massapequa, N.Y.). York kept the momentum, scoring the next three in a row to cut the Trinity lead to 9-4 with 6:43 left to play.  Junior midfielder Melissa Meehling (Monkton, Md.) scored the first of the three on a free-position shot and fed first-year Regan Cook (Lincoln University, Pa.) for the third.  The Bantams ended the run when Lyne assisted O'Donnell on her third goal of the game with 6:01 remaining, but York senior tri-captain Rachel Saks (Baltimore, Md.) scored on a free position at the 5:32 mark to make it 10-5.  Ferguson made a clutch save on a close shot from straight-on by Cook while Trinity was playing down a person due to a yellow card, and added her ninth stop on a Curran shot with 26 seconds left before the Bantams ran out the clock.

"In the timeout late, we talked about how hard we had worked to get to this point," added Dissinger. "We had to just play our game and do all the little things right for the last six minutes and finish it, and the team responded."

O'Donnell added an assist to her three goals to lead all scorers with four points, while Coffey notched four draw controls in addition to her hat trick, Simpson scored twice, and Lyne added one goal and an assist.  Senior Lara Guida (Mendham, N.J.) paced the defense in front of Ferguson with two ground balls and a caused turnover.  Meehling paced the Spartan offense with a goal and an assist, while sophomore defender Nicole Clauter (Bel Air, Md.) notched four draw controls, and junior Charlotte Wright (Massapequa, N.Y.) made seven saves in goal.

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