HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams suffered their first loss of the spring, 18-5, against the visiting Middlebury College Panthers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse action this afternoon on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 17 in the nation, falls to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the NESCAC and the top-ranked Panthers are now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the league.  Trinity will host Roger Williams tomorrow at 11 a.m. in its next game.  Senior tri-captain attacker Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) had three goals for the Bantams.

Middlebury jumped out to a 3-0 lead early but Trinity responded and trailed just, 4-2, after the first quarter.  Ives scored the first Trinity goal with a Middlebury player out due to a yellow card, assisted by rookie Grace Denious (Wilton, Conn.) with 10:30 on the clock.  Middlebury's Hope Shue scored the second of her five goals moments later but Denious closed out the first frame with a Trinity goal.  The Panthers pulled away with 10 goals in a row, as the Bantams went over 30 minutes without scoring until Ives netted her second with 2:12 on the clock in the third quarter.  Ives and Denious both scored for Trinity in the fourth stanza. 

Most statistics were fairly even, although the Panthers won 19 of 26 draw controls and were 9-for-12 on free positions to a 1-for-8 showing for Trinity.  Junior Casey Ward (Norwell, Mass.) notched two ground balls, two draw controls, and two caused turnovers for Trinity, while goalies Alyssa Vitale (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Ali MacDougall (Southbury, Conn.) combined for four saves. Shue finished with five goals and two assists and Annie Enrietto had 10 stops for Middlebury.