Trinity Field Hockey Enjoys Best Season In A Decade
Hartford, Conn., February, 10, 2009 - The Trinity field hockey squad, coached by Anne Parmenter (8th season) posted its best record since 1998 at 13-5 and qualified for the NESCAC Championship Tournament for the fourth time in five years with a 6-3 conference mark. The Bantams defeated Amherst, 1-0, on the road to win the first NESCAC Championship Tournament game in the program's history, before dropping a 1-0 overtime loss at top-seeded and eventual champion Tufts in the semifinals. Trinity qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament for the first time since 1998 and hosted its first-ever NCAA Tournament game in the opening round. The Bantams trounced Neumann, 7-0, in the NCAA First Round, but lost a heartbreaking, 5-4 decision in overtime, after taking a 4-0 lead in the first half, against Rowan in the NCAA Second Round at Messiah College.
In the post-season, senior M/D Christine Mwaturura (Harare, Zimbabwe) was selected to the 2008 womensfieldhockey.com Division III All-American First Team and to the 2008 Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III All-American Second Team, while sophomore Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) also graced the Longstreth/NFHCA All-American Second Team, and freshman Gina DiNallo (West Hartford, Conn.) was chosen for the womensfieldhockey.com Division III All-American Third Team. Mwaturura and Williams were both also selected to the Longstreth/NFHCA All-Regional First Team and the All-NESCAC First Team, while DiNallo and fellow rookie Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) made the womensfieldhockey.com National All-Rookie Team. Senior co-captain forward Karli Del Rossi (Mantua, N.J.) graced the Longstreth/NFHCA All-Regional Second Team and the All-NESCAC Second Team and senior defender Megan Hannigan (Rye, N.Y.) was picked for the Longstreth/NFHCA All-Regional Second Team. Del Rossi, Mwaturura, junior midfielder Lyndsey Waddington (Granby, Conn.), and junior M/D Meghan Ryan (Newburyport, Mass.) were each named to the NESCAC All-Academic Team and senior defender Eleanor Worthy (Bethesda, Md.) represented the Bantams on the NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Trinity finished third in the NESCAC defensively with 0.92 goals allowed per game (17, 6th in nation). Del Rossi led the team in scoring with a team-high 17 goals (0.94 per game, 4th in NESCAC) and three assists (2nd on team, 0.33 per game, 10th in NESCAC) for 37 points (2.06 per game, 4th in NESCAC), while Williams was second on the squad with 11 goals (3rd on team, 1.69 per game, 7th in NESCAC) and eight assists (0.57 per game, 4th in NESCAC, 13th in nation) for 30 points (1.88 per game, 5th in NESCAC), sophomore forward Christina Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) added eight goals and nine assists (0.53 per game, 4th in NESCAC) for 25 points, and junior forward Carrie Wolcott (Hamilton, Mass.) notched six goals and nine assists (0.44 per game, 8th in NESCAC) for 21 points. Del Rossi, named NESCAC Player of the Week once this season, and Wolcott each started all 18 of Trinity's games, while Williams played in 16 games with 15 starts, and Bradley started 12 games and appeared in 17 contests. Del Rossi led the Bantams in shots with 71 and Bradley had a team-high five game-winning goals. Del Rossi, a two-time, all-league and all-regional honoree, closes her fine career with 35 goals, including two gamewinners, and 22 assists for 92 points in 63 games.
Waddington started all 18 games in the Bantam midfield, while Mwaturura started in all of her 17 games. Sophomore Caitlin Irvine (Westwood, Mass.) and Sword each played in every game, while Irvine started 14 times, and Sword had nine starts. Waddington scored a goal and Mwaturura notched three goal, three assists, and a pair of defensive saves, while Irvine totaled one assist and Sword had six goals and three assists for 15 points. Mwaturura, named NESCAC Player of the week once this season, closes her collegiate field hockey career with seven goals and seven assists for 21 points with four game-winning goals and two defensive saves in 47 games. She was a three-time, all-league selection, a two-time all-regional selection, and a 2005 all-rookie selection in her collegiate career.
On defense, senior co-captain Emily Skipp (Middlebury, Conn.) both played in and started 17 games, while Hannigan played in every game with 17 starts, Ryan played in 17 games with 12 starts, and sophomore Brady Keeshan (Greenwich, Conn.) appeared in 16 games with 11 starts. Skipp contributed a goal and two for six points at the offensive end, while Hannigan led the Bantams with six defensive saves (tied College record) and recorded one assist. Ryan scored once and Keeshan had one goal and one assist. Skipp finishes her three-year career as a Bantam, after transferring to Trinity in 2006, with five goals and 10 assists for 20 points with three defensive saves in 62 games. She was a two-time all-league and all-regional selection and a 2006 All-American honoree. Hannigan closes her fine career with one assist and 11 defensive saves in 61 games.
DiNallo played 13 games and 863 minutes in goal with 76 saves for an .844 save percentage (6th in nation) and 14 goals allowed for a 1.15 GAA (17th in nation) and four shutouts, while sophomore Payden Sra (Pewaukee, Wisc.) totaled 22 saves and three goals allowed for an .880 save percentage (1st in NESCAC) and a 0.47 GAA (1st in NESCAC) in 446 minutes and eight games. The Bantam goalies combined to give Trinity the fourth-best save percentage in the nation at .852 and the sixth-most shutouts with a 0.50 per game average.
Several young Bantams made significant contributions to the team this fall, including freshman midfielder Julia Maldonado (Hooksett, N.H.), freshman defender Maggie Epstein (St. Louis, Mo.), and freshman forward Caroline Snite (Philadelphia, Pa.). Maldonado played in 12 games and scored once, while Epstein appeared in seven games, and Snite played in six games. Worthy also finishes her field hockey career, having appeared in nine games.
