MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - The Trinity College Bantams dropped a 1-0 decision against the Tufts University Jumbos in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament this afternoon at Middlebury College's Kohn Field.  Trinity, seeded No. 3 in the tournament and ranked No. 5 nationally, falls to 13-4 and looks to continue its year in the NCAA Tournament.  No. 2-seeded Tufts improves to 12-5 with its second win over the Bantams this season and advances to the NESCAC Finals tomorrow at noon against the host Middlebury Panthers.

Tufts put pressure on early as Trinity junior goalkeeper Olivia McMichael (Glenside, Pa.) had to make a pair of saves in the first quarter against Rachel Scrivanich.  Trinity senior tri-captain Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.) forced Tufts goalie Sam Gibby to make a save off the first of the Bantams' 11 penalty corners, but the Jumbos scores the only goal of the game with less than a minute remaining in the opening stanza on a penalty stroke by Reegan McCluskey that found its way into the left corner.

McMichael was phenomenal with five more saves in the first eight minutes of the second quarter, while Bantam junior Demarest Janis (Cos Cob, Conn.) drove a low shot to the left corner of the cage that Gibby barely saves to keep Trinity off the board in the first half.  Trinity junior back Kylie Tierney (Garden City, N.Y.) denied Scrivanich in the fourth quarter with a defensive save after McMichael had come out,  Caelin Flaherty fired a shot from the right side of the circle with 5:43 left and junior Jackie Frank (Longmeadow, Mass.) had a decent chance in transition moments later, but Gibby was up to the task each time.  The Bantams had a flurry of late penalty corners but the Jumbo defense did not let a shot reach the cage. McMichael finished with nine saves and Gibby had eight.