Hartford, Conn. - Junior forward Kendall Brown (Rowayton, Conn.) completed a hat trick in the first 17 minutes to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 6-1 victory over the visiting Wesleyan University Cardinals in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) field hockeyaction this afternoon on Sheppard Field.  Trinity evens its season mark at 7-7 and improves to 2-7 in the NESCAC, while the Cardinals drop to 5-9 overall and 1-8 in the league with their fifth loss in a row.  The Bantams host conference rival Amherst in the regular-season finale on Tuesday at 6 p.m. with the victor qualifying for the eighth and final spot in the NESCAC Championship Tournament.  Wesleyan closes its year at league for Connecticut College on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Brown opened the scoring with an unassisted goal after a quick restart 5:02 into the contest, and Trinity senior midfielder Nicole Quinlan (Duxbury, Mass.) tipped in a blast by classmate Jordan Ragland (Westport, Conn.) off a penalty corner less than two minutes later.  Brown converted on assists by senior forward Caroline Curtin (Andover, Mass.) late in the first quarter and sophomore midfielder Caelin Flaherty (Upton, Mass.) early in the second to put the home team ahead, 4-0, with 13:09 remaining in the first half.  Wesleyan senior forward Erica Horowitz (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored from Nikki Gerjarusak (Wayland, Mass.) with 4:04 on the clock to make it a 4-1 game at the break.

Flaherty fed Curtin for a goal on one penalty corner with 7:50 left in the third quarter, and rookie Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.) assisted Flaherty for the game's final goal on another penalty corner.  Flaherty finished with a goal and assists for the Bantams, while first-year goalkeeper Emma Cropper (Wilton, Conn.) improved to 6-6 with a single save.  Senior Delaney Wood (Winslow, Maine) had five saves in the Wesleyan cage.