WATERVILLE, Maine - The visiting Trinity College Bantams rallied back from a three-goal deficit in the second half and nearly tied the game in the final second, but suffered a 12-11 setback against the Colby College Mules in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse action this afternoon at Alfond Field. Trinity, ranked No. 13 in the nation, falls to 10-4 overall and 5-4 in the NESCAC with its final game of the regular season coming up on Wednesday at 6 p.m. No. 12-ranked Colby improves to 10-4 overall and 6-3 in the league.
The game was low scoring early, as Trinity senior co-captain
Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) netted the first goal of the game before Colby scored the next three to lead, 3-1, after one quarter. Trinity senior goalkeeper Alicia Vitale (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) had four saves in the opening stanza, while Mule backstop Sarah Hearns stopped Bantam first-year attacker
Molly McGuckin (Darien, Conn.) on a free-position shot in the final seconds before the horn.
McGuckin got the best of Hearns early in the second quarter with a goal from junior midfielder
Casey Ward (Norwell, Mass.) that iginted a 3-0 Bantam run. Trinity rookie
Grace Denious (Wilton, Conn.) fed junior attacker
Natalie Miller (Northport, N.Y.) for a game-tying goal with 9:21 on the clock and Denious converted on a pass by fellow rookie
Alex Lesko (Villanova, Pa.) to give the Bantams a 4-3 lead 2:41 before halftime. The Mules scored twice in the final two minutes of the second quarter, both on assists by Gianna Bruno, and led, 5-4, at intermission.
After an early Colby goal, Trinity junior
Caroline Lampert (Wayland, Mass.) and Ward scored just 31 seconds apart to tie the game again at 6-all, while Ives assisted McGuckin on another Trinity tally to give the visitors their final lead at 7-6 with 8:13 remaining in the third frame. Bruno tied the game at 7-7 at the 4:50 mark and the Mules tacked on three more goals before end of the third quarter. Ives and Lampert found the back of the net early in the fourth quarter back-to-back to close the gap to one goal at 10-9, but Bruno assisted Ally Franz for a Colby goal moments later.
Colby did not take a shot over the next nearly seven minutes, while Trinity got to within a goal yet again when McGuckin converted on a free position with 5:04 on the clock. Brunio scored a player-up goal with an assist from Franz for the last Mule goal with 1:46 remaining. McGuckin won the draw and Hearns stopped a Lampert shot, but Bantam sophomore
Brooke Kurtz (Alexandria, Va.) caused a Mule turnover to set up Ward for her second goal with 20 seconds left. Ward won the final draw of the game and senior
Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.) was awarded a free position with one second on the clock but Hearns stopped the try to secure the Colby win.
McGuckin paced Trinity offensively with three goals and added four draw controls, while Ives and Ward had two goals and an assist apiece. Vitale finished with 11 saves, while junior
Caitlyn Buermann (West Caldwell, N.J.) notched five draw controls. Bruno had seven points on three goals and four assists, while Hearns finished with six saves. Ainsley Dion had five draw controls for the Mules who outshot the Bantams, 31-24, and forced 20 turnovers.
