Trinity Field Hockey Earns Bid And First Round Bye In NCAA Tournament
Bantams Head To Ursinus College This Weekend
Hartford, Conn., Nov. 10, 2009 - The Trinity College field hockey team, which has a record of 15-2 and reached the finals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship Tournament for the first time last weekend, was awarded an at-large bid to the 2009 NCAA Division IIII Field Hockey Championship Tournament. The Bantams also received a first-round bye and will play a second round game on Nov. 14 at Ursinus College against the winner of tomorrow's first round contest between the Middlebury College Panthers and the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Corsairs. The winner on Saturday will play either Ursinus, which also has a first-round bye, or Lynchburg or Juniata, which play tomorrow for the right to face Ursinus, on Sunday, November 15 at Ursinus at 1 p.m. in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Sunday's winner advances to the NCAA Division III Final Four at Mount Holyoke College on Nov. 21-22. Trinity is making its second trip to the NCAA Tournament and also participated in 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. The Bantams advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1993 and 1998.
Trinity, coached by Anne Parmenter (8th Season), and Middlebury join 2009 league champion Tufts, and Amherst as representatives from the NESCAC to make the tournament field. Trinity blanked both Middlebury and Mass.-Dartmouth during the regular season, 2-0, , and the Bantams lost to Amherst at home, 1-0, on October 30 in a game that spoiled Trinity's quest for an undefeated regular season in its last game. Trinity won at Tufts, 2-1, in overtime on October 17, but lost to the Jumbos, 3-2, at home on Sunday in the NESCAC Finals to give the Bantams a 3-2 mark against the other NCAA teams. Trinity, which downed two-time defending NCAA Champion Bowdoin, 2-1, in dramatic fashion on Saturday in the NESCAC Semifinals, posted a 7-0 victory in the 2008 NCAA Tournament First Round, before bowing to Rowan at Messiah, 5-4, in overtime in the NCAA Second Round. The Bantams are ranked No. 6 in the nation in the final National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division III Poll.
In the NESCAC Semifinal win against Bowdoin, junior forward Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) assisted sophomore back Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) on the game-winning goal with eight seconds remaining in the second half. Senior co-captain forward Carrie Wolcott (Hamilton, Mass.) scored the first Bantam goal from sophomore defender Maggie Epstein (St. Louis, Mo.) to tie the score, while sophomore goalie Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) finished with seven saves. 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. In the finals the next day against Tufts, Sword assisted junior midfielder Robyn Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) on two second-half goals to pull the Bantams within one after a 3-0 deficit at the half. Bradley also had an assist on the second goal, but Trinity's comeback effort ran out of time. Dinallo had five saves.
Dinallo tops the league and ranks second in all of NCAA Division III in save percentage at .887 and is third in the conference in GAA at 0.93 (8th in nation), and fifth in saves with 7.35 per game (125), while logging all 1,206 of Trinity's minutes in goal this fall. Epstein, Sword, and senior co-captain Meg Ryan (Newburyport, Mass.) have anchored the defense in front of Dinallo, helping Trinity record six shutouts. Sword is also a factor on offense with five goals, all gamewinners, and four assists this fall.
Williams is fourth in the league in assists with 0.47 per game (8) to go with 0.65 goals per game (11, 6th in NESCAC) for 1.76 ppg (30, 5th in NESCAC). Bradley ranks fourth in the conference in goals with 0.76 per game (13), including four gamewinners, and also has five assists for 31 points (1.82 per game, 4th in NESCAC). Wolcott has seven goals and two assists for 16 points and first-years Alanna Capasso (Weston, Mass.) and Michelle Williams (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe), Robyn's sister, have 17 points between them on three goals and three assists, and two goals and four assists, respectively. Capasso and sophomore forward Caroline Snite (Philadelphia, Pa.) have been solid contributors on the offensive end this fall, while Williams, first-year Haley Thompson (Ipswich, Mass.) and senior Lindsay Waddington (Granby, Conn.) make up a consistent midfield on both ends of the field.
