WATERVILLE, Maine - The visiting Trinity College Bantams jumped out to a 5-1 lead but fell behind for good in the second quarter in a 12-10 loss against the Colby College Mules in the quarterfinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament at Bill Alfond Field this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 13 nationally and seeded No. 5 in the tourney, falls to 11-5 with its second close loss on the road to the Mules in eight days and hopes to be selected for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in May. The Mules, ranked No. 12 nationally and seeded No. 4 in the tournament, advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded Middlebury next weekend.
It looked good early for the Bantams, as senior tri-captain attacker
Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and first-year attacker
Molly McGuckin (Darien, Conn.) scored just 42 seconds apart to give the visitors a 2-0 lead 4:18 into the game. Colby's Gianna Bruno scored at the 9:06 mark of the first quarter, but junior midfielder
Casey Ward (Norwell, Mass.), Ives, and rookie
Grace Denious (Wilton, Conn.) rattled off three goals in a row for a 5-1 Trinity lead with 4:32 remaining in the opening stanza. Bruno fed Paige Saudek for a Colby goal with 2:49 on the clock that was answered by Bantam junior
Caroline Lampert (Wayland, Mass.) and Trinity led, 6-2, at the first break.
Colby took the momentum away in the second frame beginning with a goal from Bruno to Cami McDonald and outscored the Bantams, 6-1, in the period to lead, 8-7, at halftime. First-year
Alex Lesko (Villanova, Pa.) scored the lone goal of the second period for Trinity. Saudek scored the first goal of the third quarter, but Trinity senior tri-captain midfielder
Elle Fair (Westport, Conn.) responded at the 4:05 mark to make it a one-goal game at 9-8. Bruno assisted McDonald again in the final minute of the third and the Mules scored again early in the fourth frame, but Trinity rallied one more time and made the score, 11-10, on tallies by Ives and Denious. Saudek scored on Bruno's fourth assist of the game with 3:26 on the clock to push Colby's lead back up to two. Lampert got off two shots in the final three minutes but one was blocked, Jillian Kane made a save on Lampert's free-position shot with a minute left, and the Mules ran out the clock.
Colby outshot Trinity, 33-20, and won 17 of 26 draws, while both teams committed 14 turnovers. Ives had a hat trick and Denious scored twice, while McGuckin had a goal, four draw controls, and two ground balls. Senior
Alyssa Vitale (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and first-year Ali Macdougal (Southbury, Conn.) made five saves each for the Bantams. Saudek scored three times for Colby and Kane came off the bench with her team down 3-0 and made six saves.
