Trinity Field Hockey Hosts Amherst Friday With Undefeated Regular Season On The Line
Bantams Host NESCAC Quarterfinals Playoff Game Sunday
Hartford, Conn., Oct. 28, 2009 - The Trinity College field hockey team, which has a record of 13-0 and has clinched its first-ever No.1 seed in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament, will try for an undefeated regular season when the Bantams host league rival Amherst College on Friday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. Trinity, which posted its best season in a decade last fall at 13-5 and played its way into the NCAA Division III Championship Second Round, last finished perfect for the regular season in 1997. That year, the Bantams also played Amherst in the regular season finale, winning, 4-1, to finish 14-0 and went on to reach the NCAA Second Round before falling, 3-2, to Cortland State to close the year at 15-1. Amherst is 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the NESCAC and boasts a five-game winning streak.
Trinity, coached by Anne Parmenter (9th Season), will host either Colby, Connecticut College or Wesleyan, in the NESCAC Quarterfinals on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m., regardless of the Friday's result. The Bantams also earned 2-1 victories at NESCAC rivals Williams and Tufts and at home against league foe Bowdoin, downed Colby and Wesleyan in overtime, and outscored the remainder of its opponents, 25-2. The Bantams are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation in last week's National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III Poll, while Amherst is ranked No. 15.
Most recently, Trinity blanked Springfield, 3-0, on the road on Oct. 21 and edged two-time defending NCAA Champion and No. 12-ranked Bowdoin, 2-1, at home on Oct. 24. Senior midfielder Lindsey Waddington (Granby, Conn.) had a goal and an assist at Springfield, while freshman midfielder Hadley Duncan (Rye, N.Y.) scored her first career goals, and junior forward Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) added the third goal. Sophomore Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) registered eight saves and the shutout in the Trinity cage. Dinallo made 13 saves against Bowdoin and Trinity received goals from sophomore back Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) and senior co-captain forward Carrie Wolcott (Hamilton, Mass.). Junior Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) collected assists on both goals.
Dinallo tops the league and all of NCAA Division III in save percentage at .915 and ranks second in GAA at 0.76 (4th in nation), and third in saves with 8.23 per game (107), while logging all 925 of Trinity's minutes in goal this fall. Senior co-captain Meg Ryan (Newburyport, Mass.) and sophomores Sword and Maggie Epstein (St. Louis, Mo.) have anchored the defense in front of Dinallo, helping Dinallo record six shutouts. Sword is also a factor on offense with three goals, all gamewinners, and an assist this fall.
Williams is second in the league (21st in nation) in assists with 0.62 goals per game (9) to go with 0.62 goals per game (8, 6th in NESCAC) for 1.85 ppg (24, 6th in NESCAC). Bradley ranks third in the conference in goals with 0.92 per game (12) and also has three assists for 27 points (2.08 per game, 4th in NESCAC). Wolcott has six goals and two assists for 14 points and first-years Alanna Capasso (Weston, Mass.) and Michelle Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), Robyn's sister, have eight points apiece on two goals and four assists, and three goals and two assists, respectively.
Bradley and Dinallo have collected numerous weekly awards throughout the fall, as Bradley has been named the NESCAC and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Offensive Player of the Week twice apiece and Dinallo has been selected as the NESCAC and the ECAC Division III New England Defensive Player of the Week twice each (including this week), as the womensfieldhockey.com National Player of the Week once, and to the womensfieldhockey.com National Honor Roll this week.
ECAC Player of the Week information
