Trinity Posts 2-1 Come-From-Behind Victory Over Bowdoin in Field Hockey Semifinals
Courtesy Trinity Sports Information
HARTFORD, Conn. – Junior forward Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) assisted sophomore back Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) on the dramatic game-winning goal with eight seconds remaining in the second half to lead top-seeded Trinity to a 2-1 victory over sixth-seeded Bowdoin in the semifinals of the 2009 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship Saturday afternoon on Sheppard Field. Trinity advances to its first-ever NESCAC final against Tufts, a 3-0 winner over Williams.
The Bantams improve to 15-1, while
Bowdoin, the four-time defending NESCAC Champions and the two-time
defending NCAA Champions, falls to 10-6. The winner of
tomorrow’s NESCAC Championship game will earn the
league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Trinity won
the regular season meeting with Tufts, 2-1, in overtime in Medford
on October 17.
Trinity junior midfielder Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) took
control of the ball at midfield with just over 20 seconds left on
the clock and lasered it ahead to a streaking Bradley on the right
wing. Bradley slowed the ball down with her stick and brought it
close the right corner with a defender on her before sending a
centering pass toward the front of the Bowdoin goal. Sword outraced
the Polar Bear defenders to the ball and put it in the cage to give
Trinity a stunning come-from-behind win.
The first half ended scoreless with Bowdoin controlling the ball
for its majority but did not gain many clear looks at the goal.
Trinity did not get off a shot until 5:30 was left before the
break, but the one-timer by freshman forward Alanna Capasso
(Weston, Mass.) rolled just right of the Polar Bear cage. Robyn
Williams blasted a shot at the goal from the top of the circle on a
penalty corner in the final minutes, but Bowdoin goalkeeper Emily
Neilson (Chatham, Pa.) knocked the ball away with her stick to
preserve the scoreless tie at the half.
Bowdoin sophomore forward Kate Herter (Topsfield, Mass.) nearly
gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with a close shot early in the second
half, but Bantam sophomore goalkeeper Gina Dinallo (West Hartford,
Conn.) made an athletic stop with her leg. The Polar Bears
continued to pressure the Trinity defense and finally broke through
13:43 into the second when junior midfielder Ingrid Oelschlager
(Roanoke, Va.) scored on a pass by senior forward Shavonne Lord
(Shrewsbury, Mass.) from the right corner that deflected off
Dinallo directly to her stick five yards in front of the cage.
Trinity could not penetrate the Bowdoin defense for any scoring
chances up to the 10-minute mark, but senior co-captain Carrie
Wolcott (Hamilton, Mass.) broke the drought with 7:20 on the clock,
converting on a pass by sophomore defender Maggie Epstein (St.
Louis, Mo.) to tie the score.
Dinallo finished with seven saves, including five in the second
half, while Nielson made two stops. Bowdoin outshot the Bantams,
12-5. Trinity wins its third straight over the Polar Bears despite
being outshot by a count of 48-12 in the three games. The loss for
the Polar Bears in the NESCAC tournament is the first since 2004, a
stretch of 10 consecutive wins.
