Box Score Medford, Mass. - The Trinity College women's lacrosse team came away with a 12-10 victory over the No. 8-ranked Tufts University Jumbos in the quarterfinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Bello Field in Medford. The Bantams, ranked No. 11 in the country and the No. 6 seed in the tournament, improve to 11-5 on the year while Tufts falls to 12-4 overall. Trinity picks up a victory in its first NESCAC Quarterfinals road matchup since the spring of 2003 with its second consecutive victory over Tufts in the quarterfinal round.
Senior tri-captain Allie Barrett (Concord, Mass.) led the way with three goals and two assists for the Bantams. Fellow senior Kiley Coffey (West Newbury, Mass.) contributed three goals and one assist, while senior Grace O'Donnell (Yarmouth, Maine) and rookie Kendall Milligan (Needham, Mass.) each had two goals. Senior Jennifer Cook (Manhasset, N.Y.) scored one and assisted twice and first-year Sophie Berger (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) scored one goal. On defense, sophomore Sarah Montalbano (Huntington, N.Y.) caused a game-high three turnovers. Senior tri-captain Zoe Ferguson (Ridgewood, N.J.) had a big day with 13 saves in net.
For Tufts, Dakota Adamec scored three goals, recorded two assists, had five draw controls, picked up one ground ball, and caused one turnover. Emily Games had two goals and an assist for the Jumbos as Annie Sullivan and Caroline Nowak both scored twice. Catherine Lawliss picked up a goal as well. Audrey Evers recorded eight saves in goal.
The contest was tight the entire way, with neither team ever leading by more than two. The Jumbos led, 9-8, with 16 minutes remaining in the game after a free-position goal by Emily Games, but Trinity would control the game from there on out, finishing the second half on a 4-1 run with goals by Barrett, Berger, and two from Coffey.
The Jumbos wouldn't go down without a fight, as Annie Sullivan battled through multiple defenders to score an unassisted goal with seven minutes remaining to bring the score to 11-10, in favor of the Bantams. Coffey, however, answered back less than a minute later for the final tally of the game for either side.
There was only one goal scored in nearly the first 20 minutes of game time. Nowak scored for Tufts five minutes in, but then no one was able to find the back of the net again until Cook scored for Trinity with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. Both sides then proceeded to make up for lost time, combining for nine goals in the final ten minutes as Tufts took a 6-5 lead into the half.
Trinity will play in the semifinals next Saturday hosted by top seed Middlebury. As the lowest remaining seed, the Bantams will play Middlebury. The other semifinal will be between the second seed Amherst and fourth-seed Bowdoin.
