BABSON PARK, Mass. - Senior captain Christine Taylor (Westport, Conn.) scored the game-winning goal on a penalty stroke 3:24 into the fourth quarter to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 2-0 victory over the Babson College Beavers in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Championship Tournament at MacDowell Field this afternoon.  Trinity improves to 15-5 and advances to the NCAA Final Four for the third time in program history and the first time since 1998.  No. 3-ranked Babson, which loses for the first time since September 19, a winning streak of 17 games, sees its season end at 21-2.  The No. 10-ranked Bantams will face Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Division III Semifinals on Saturday, November 20 at 2 p.m. and Middlebury College plays Rowan University in the other semifinal game Saturday at 11 a.m.  Both games will be played on Trinity's Robin L. Sheppard Field.

"This is really just an amazing team in every sense of the word," said Trinity Head Coach Anne Parmenter who will be coaching in her first NCAA Final Four.  "Liv McMichael and our defense have just kept getting stronger and stronger.  Teams have started to key on (Caelin) Flaherty and so other players have just stepped up for us offensively.  We knew Babson's defense would be hard to get through, but we just kept at it and eventually found a way."

Trinity was awarded the penalty stroke when senior captain India Shay (Southborough, Mass.) was interfered with while trying to play the ball at the right corner of the cage during one of the Bantams' 11 penalty corners.  Taylor, who had made her only previous penalty stroke attempt this fall, calmly shot past Babson goalie Cassidy Riley and into the upper left for the first goal of the game.  Trinity's second goal came moments later on another penalty corner.  Sophomore midfielder Katrina Winfield (Wilmington, Del.) inserted the ball short to rookie Izzy Deveney (Westport, Conn.) who quickly lifted the ball high in the air toward the cage.  Riley and Taylor both reached up for the ball, but it fell into the goal to give Trinity a 2-0 lead with 7:19 left to play.  Babson had a handful of chances late, but Trinity sophomore goalie Olivia McMichael (Glenside, Pa.) made a save against Lauren Curley with 3:09 left and three Beaver penalty corners in the final minute came up empty.  McMichael finished with two saves and Riley had six for Babson.  Trinity held Babson's offense, which had scored 100 goals this fall entering the game, to just two shots on goal..  

"I had alot of confidence that I could make the stroke but I was also thinking that Babson might have seen me on film when I had made one earlier in the tournament," said Taylor.  "I tried to be deceptive with my eyes, took a couple deep breaths, and put it into the top left corner.  I knew Izzy would put her ball on target.  We went to high school together and so I knew she could make that shot. I may have gotten my stick on it but it went in so that's all that matters."

The first three quarters were exciting despite the lack of scoring.  Trinity senior captain Caelin Flaherty (Upton, Mass.) had two early shots blocked and Riley made the game's first save on a close bid by Shay, as the Bantam offense was applying pressure in the early going.  Babson's closest chance in the first half came on a wide shot by Millie Brady late in the first quarter, but the Trinity defense was near impenetrable as McMichael did not need to make a save before halftime.  Trinity had some close calls in the first half too, including a high and hard shot by Deveney that was saved by Riley and a deflected shot by Shay from point-blank range after a nice feed from the right side by sophomore Molly King (Canton, Mass.).  Taylor also had a hard shot from close stopped by Riley in the third quarter.

"We set a goal in the spring of playing in the Final Four on Sheppard Field," added Taylor.  "It is surreal now that it is actually happening, especially after we lost in the NESCAC Tournament and weren't sure if we would get a bid to the NCAAs.  I could not be more excited about playing next week."