HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College field hockey team, coached by Anne Parmenter (21st Season), has been selected for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the ninth time, and the Bantams will host a first-round game on Wednesday, November 10 at 4 p.m. against the St. John Fisher College Cardinals.  The Bantams advanced to the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Williams College on October 30 but lost, 4-0, at Middlebury over the weekend.  Trinity, which has a 12-5 record and is ranked No. 8 in the nation, learned of its at-large bid to the tournament when the bracket was announced Sunday evening.  St. John Fisher is 12-7 and earned an automatic bid by winning the Empire Eight Conference.  Tickets for Wednesday's game are $5 for adults, $3 for students, seniors, and children ages 12 and under. Trinity students with ID will be admitted at no charge courtesy of the College's athletic department.  Trinity College is serving as the host of the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship Semifinals and Finals on Sheppard Field the weekend of November 20 and 21.  Tickets for that event are available here.

The winner of Wednesday's game will head to Babson College in Massachusetts to face Kean in a second round game on Saturday, November 13, and the quarterfinals will be played at Babson against the host Beavers, Messiah, or Stevens the next day.  Trinity last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 when they downed Gwynedd-Mercy, 5-3, in the opening round and Salisbury, 2-1, in the second round before falling, 5-0, at Messiah in the quarterfinals.  Sunday's winner will play in the NCAA Division III Championship Semifinals on Trinity's Robin L. Sheppard Field the weekend of November 20 and 21.  Trinity was an NCAA Final Four participant in 1993 and 1998, and played in NCAA Tournaments in 1996, 1997, 2008, and 2009, 2016, and 2017.

The Bantams got off to 6-0 start to the 2021 season and of its five losses, two came on a shootout and the other three came against Middlebury and Tufts, both ranked among the nation's top three schools.The Bantams posted a 2-1 win against Endicott in its home opener and a 1-0 triumph at NESCAC rival Bowdoin to give them a 2-3 record this fall against the NCAA field.  Trinity senior co-captain forward Caelin Flaherty (Upton, Mass.) has emerged as one of the top finishers in the nation, ranking 13th nationally in goals with 1.12 per game and 14th in scoring at 1.13 goals per game and 14th in scoring at 2.56 ppg (18g, 5a, 41 points).  Trinity sophomore M/F Jackie Frank (Longmeadow, Mass.) adds 13 goals and two assists for 28 points, and senior captain forward India Shay (Southborough, Mass.) has six goals and two assists for 14 points.  Sophomore midfielder Katrina Winfield (Wilmington, Del.) leads the Bantams in assists with six, while Frank has a team-high four game-winning tallies. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Olivia McMichael (Glenside, Pa.) has 45 saves for an .735 save percentage and a 1.24 GAA in the cage, playing behind Trinity's steady defense that includes junior Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.), sophomore Molly King (Canton, Mass.), and first-year Isabella Deveney (Westport, Conn.), who have yielded just 125 shots this fall.  The Bantams have benefitted from a consistent starting lineup throughout the fall with eight players starting in all 17 contests, including the whole back line and midfielders Riley Nichols (Austin, Texas) and Kylie Tierney (Garden City, N.Y.).  Senior captain Meghan Evans (Hooksett, N.H.) has played in every game with 15 starts and rookie Ashley Zigler (Falls Church, Va.) has also played in all 17 games for the Bantam offense.

St. John Fisher, coached by Tori Bothner (8th Season), rolled through its eight-game conference schedule without a loss and outscored its two opponents in the Empire Eight Tournament, 9-0, but were 2-7 outside of their league.  Bre Socker has team-highs of 18 goals and 10 assists for the St. John Fisher offense, while Molly Fisher adds 10 goals, and Sophia Trozzi has 98 saves for a .772 save percentage and a 1.54 GAA in the cage. The Cardinals are 0-3 against the tournament field with setbacks against Middlebury (6-0), Cortland State (3-2), and New Paltz State (4-3).  This will be the first time the Bantams will face the Cardinals.