AMHERST, Mass. - First-year attacker
Molly McGuckin (Darien, Conn.) had three goals and two assists to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 13-10 victory over the Amherst College Mammoths in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's lacrosse regular-season finale this evening at Pratt Field. Trinity, ranked No. 13 in the nation, posts its best regular season record since 2017 at 11-4 overall and finishes 6-4 in the NESCAC. No. 14-ranked Amherst closes its regular campaign at 9-5 overall and 5-5 in the league. The Bantams earn the No. 5 seed in the NESCAC Championship Tournament with the win and will play at No. 4-seeded Colby in the quarterfinals on Saturday at noon. No. 6-seeded Amherst visits No. 3-seeded Tufts on Saturday at noon in its quarterfinal matchup.
Trinity led from beginning to end, scoring the only goals of the first two quarters on goals by juniors Casey ward (Norwell, Mass.) and
Caroline Lampert (Wayland, Mass.). The Bantams kept the momentum early in the second frame, notching three more goals starting with a tally by Ward just 27 seconds after the first draw. McGuckin gave Trinity a 6-1 lead with 5:36 left in the first half with her first goal, but Morgan Lebek scored for the Mammoths with 3:16 on the clock to make it, 6-2, at intermission. The Bantam defense yielded just six shots and forced Amherst into 12 turnovers in the first two quarters.
The teams scored twice each in the third quarter, as McGuckin scored once and fed junior attacker
Natalie Miller (Northport, N.Y.) for another with 27 seconds remaining before the final break. With Trinity leading, 8-4, at the start, 11 goals were scored in the final quarter. The teams went back and forth the entire session, as Lampert, McGuckin sophomore
Brooke Kurtz (Alexandria, Va.) each notching a goal an an assist for Trinity in the fourth frame. Trinity maintained at least a four-goal cushion for the majority of the fourth, before Claire Sosa made it, 12-9, with her third goal at the 3:19 mark. McGuckin won the ensuing draw and Lampert answered with a player-up goal with 46 seconds left. Amherst's Sofia Guttmann scored with 18 seconds left but time ran out soon afterward.
"I am extremely proud of this entire team. Tonight was an important win and a testament to the effort they have been putting in every day at practice as well as refocusing with a quick turnaround," said Trinity Head Coach
Katy Szymanski. "They rose to the occasion by playing disciplined, making adjustments and winning the moment."
The game was even statistically except Trinity forced 22 Amherst turnovers and committed only 14. Bantam senior tri-captain
Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.), who also scored a goal, and junior defender
Quincy Connell (New Canaan, Conn.) had two caused turnovers apiece and Connell also tied McGuckin with a team-high three ground balls. Trinity junior
Caitlyn Buermann (West Caldwell, N.J.) registered a team-high six draw controls and added a goal, while senior
Alyssa Vitale (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and first-year
Ali Macdougall (Southbury, Conn.) combined for five saves in goal. Sosa and Bridget Finley scored three times for Amherst, while Fiona Jones had nine draw controls and Jessye Salmon made seven Mammoth saves.
