Hartford, Conn. – In a game that featured five lead changes and five ties, it was the Colby College Mules that came out on top, 12-11 in overtime, against the Trinity College Bantams in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men's lacrosse battle at Jessee/Miller Field in Hartford. Trinity Falls to 8-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference while the Mules improve to 8-5 overall and 3-5 in league play. Before the game, Trinity honored its 15-member senior class as part of Senior Night in the team's final weekend regular season home game.

Colby jumped ahead to a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from CJ Hassan (Miami, Fla.) just over five minutes into the opening frame. The Bantams responded less than two minutes later when senior Ben Knaus (Ross, Calif.) found a cutting Drew Kozub (Hopkinton, Mass.) who ripped a shot past Mule goalie C.J. Layton (Wakefield, Mass.). After the two sides traded goals to make it 2-2, Colby took a 3-2 lead with 1:08 left in the opening quarter on a man-up goal by Colton Michel (Redondo Beach, Calif.), but Trinity tied it up in wild fashion with two seconds left before the horn. After a Colby turnover in the offensive zone with seven seconds left, senior Alex Notman (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) sent a pass the length of the field in desperation, but the pass found rookie Connor McCulloch (Alexandria, Va.) who took an underhand shot that went between the legs of Layton for the score.

McCulloch made it two in a row with another goal, 1:03 into the second quarter to give Trinity its first lead of the game, 4-3. A Knaus goal preceded Kozub's second score of the game with 10:11 remaining to put the Bantams ahead, 6-3. Less than three minutes later, Trinity senior Max DeLaMater (Irvington, N.Y.) got involved in the scoring action to build the Bantam lead to 7-3.

Colby ended the scoring drought with two unanswered, one from Riley Bergstrom (Duxbury, Mass.) and one from Max Cushman (Marblehead, Mass.), to cut the deficit to 7-5. Out of a timeout, Jack Rickards (Andover, Mass.) fired a missile that found the back of the net with 4:56 left before the break to get the Mules back in it and make it a one goal game. Just 1:03 after Rickards' goal, Charlie Lynch (Bethesda, Md.) scored Colby's fourth-straight goal to tie things at 7-7. Colby nearly took the lead just before the halftime horn but Trinity senior goalie Greg Barletta (Canton, Mass.) came up with a monster save to keep things knotted at 7-7. Hassan raced down the field and fired a shot to beat the buzzer, but Barletta kicked his leg out and kept the ball from going in.

After a goal from Cushman to open the second half scoring, Trinity was gifted with concurrent pushing penalties called on the Mules to give it a two-man advantage. The Bantams nearly tied things when first-year John Stookey (Middletown, R.I.) fired a shot on net, but it bounced off the post and away from harm. Trinity maintained possession after the penalties expired before DeLaMater received a nifty pass from McCulloch in front of the net and ripped a shot that beat Layton to tie the game, 8-8.

The fourth quarter started with both teams still tied, 8-8, but the Bantams came out of the gates in a huge way. DeLamater scored his third goal of the night with just 59 seconds gone by to put the hosts back ahead. Less than a minute later, Trinity rookie Kevin Edmonds (Fairfield, Conn.) buried a shot from near point-blank range to make it a 10-8 lead before junior Morty Fearey (Duxbury, Mass.) made it a three-goal game thanks to an acrobatic goal. With 7:59 left to play, Fearey barreled his way towards the net and was slashed by two Mule defenders, drawing flags from the officials. None of that mattered though, as Fearey managed to bury the ball in the back of the net for the goal.

Colby came back with back-to-back goals to once again make it a one-goal game at 11-10. The second of which came from Bergstrom who capped off his hat trick with the game-tying goal at 3:53 to force the eventual overtime.

In the extra session, Colby won the faceoff before Michel tried to win it, but his shot sailed wide of the net. The Mules retained possession however, before Bergstrom dished it to Hassan who posted the game-winner with 2:43 left in the first overtime session.

DeLaMater and Kozub led the Bantams with three goals each while McCulloch scored twice for Trinity as well.  Notman led the charge for Trinity's defense, finishing with four caused turnovers and three ground balls. First-year Charlie Olsen (Darien, Conn.) added three caused turnovers, as did junior Will Hay (New York, N.Y.). Senior Scott Morgan (East Grand Rapids, Mich.) led the team with a game-high ten ground balls, thanks in part to 14 wins at the faceoff dot.

The Mules were paced by Bergstrom who had the three goals, along with Will Dodge (Pelham, N.Y.) who collected seven ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Layton finished with 19 saves in net for Colby.

Trinity wraps up the regular season with a pivotal matchup on Wednesday at home versus Amherst.