HARTFORD, Conn. - First-year attacker Molly McGuckin (Darien, Conn.) had four goals and two assists to lead the Trinity College Bantams to an 18-10 victory over the visiting Babson College Beavers in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse action this evening on Sheppard Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 14 in the nation, improves to 6-2 while the Beavers drop to 2-5.  Trinity will visit No. 25-ranked St. Lawrence in its next game on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Trinity fell behind, 3-1, early as Emily Curtis assisted on two of three Beaver goals in the opening four minutes.  Trinity rookie Grace Denious (Wilton, Conn.) scored to avoid a 3-0 hole for the Bantams who rattled off eight goals in a row over a span of 8:20 later in the first frame.  McGuckin and senior tri-captain attacker Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) both had two goals and one assist during the 8-0 run. Curtis stopped the bleeding for the Beavers with 16 seconds left before the first break.  The teams traded goals twice early in the second period before Trinity scored the last three of the opening half.  Ives fed McGuckin for her third goal of the game with 9:25 on the clock, followed by the second tally of the night for Bantam junior midfielder Casey Ward (Norwell, Mass.) at the 7:51 mark.  McGuckin closed out the 3-0 spurt with her final goal of the evening with just under a minute on the clock for a 13-6 Trinity lead at intermission.

In the second half, the scoring slowed down and only three goals were scored in the third quarter.  Babson scored twice and Trinity junior attacker Natalie Miller (Northport, N.Y.) netted the first of her two goals to make the score, 14-8, at the final break.  Curtis opened the fourth quarter another goal to cut the Beaver deficit to five, but Trinity responded with three goals in a row.  McGuckin fed Miller for another and junior midfielder Caroline Lampert (Wayland, Mass.) scored back-to-back before Curtis assisted Erin Jayne on Babson's last goal with 2:20 remaining.  Ives found Miller for her third goal as time expired.

Lampert finished with four goals, Ives totaled five points on two goals and three assists,and Ward finished with two goals, an assist, two ground balls, three caused turnovers, and two draw controls. Defensively, Trinity junior Quincy Connell (New Canaan, Conn.) notched four caused turnovers, rookie Samantha Hark recorded three ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Alyssa Vitale (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Ali Macdougall (Southbury, Conn.) combined for seven saves.  Curtis had two goals and three assists and Jayne scored three times with one assist for Babson, which committed 27 turnovers.  Clare Connolly had a game-high nine draw controls and Kathleen Murphy made nine saves for the Beavers.  Trinity outshot Babson, 32-22, committed just 13 turnovers and doubled up the Beavers on free positions, 14-7.