Top-Seeded Trinity Edges Connecticut College 2-1 in Field Hockey Quarterfinals
Courtesy Trinity Sports Information
HARTFORD, Conn. – Top-seeded Trinity posted a 2-1 victory over eighth-seeded Connecticut College in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship Sunday afternoon on Sheppard Field. Trinity advances to the NESCAC Semifinals, which will be held on Sheppard Field on Saturday, Nov. 7, and will play four-time defending NESCAC Champion and two-time defending NCAA Champion Bowdoin in the first game at 11 a.m.
Trinity, which came just short of a perfect regular season on Friday with a 1-0 loss to Amherst, improves to 14-1 and Connecticut College closes the 2009 season at 5-10.
Connecticut College took an early lead 15 minutes into the contest when junior forward Abby Hine (Madison, Conn.) smacked in a pass from senior tri-captain midfielder Ellen Cavanaugh (Cheshire, Conn.) that had deflected off a Trinity player’s stick leaving Bantam sophomore goalkeeper Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) out of position to make a save. The Camels maintained their lead for just over eight minutes, until Trinity junior midfielder Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) rocketed a shot into the cage from the top of the circle on a penalty corner with 11:32 remaining in the first half. Bantam sophomore back Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) provided the assist from the end line. Trinity scored again 4:17 later, as junior forward Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) scored the eventual gamewinner from freshman midfielder Michelle Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) with 7:15 remaining before intermission.
Neither team had many scoring chances in the second half, although Camel senior goalie Steph Quinn (Arlington, Mass.) kept her team within a goal with a point-blank save on a one-on-one breakaway opportunity by Bradley with 3:46 left on the clock. Trinity outshot the Camels, 21-3, and held them to just one shot through the first half and much of the second stanza of the game, before Connecticut College earned themselves a pair of penalty corners late in the second half, but failed to tie the game. Dinallo finished with one save and Quinn stopped 10 shots for Connecticut College.
