The Tripod

The Lady Bantams await a first round matchup with Neumann College. [Click to enlarge]

The culmination of the Trinity College field hockey team's season was a roller coaster ride involving two overtime losses and a win in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs. The Bantams, who lost in double overtime to Amherst College in the last game of the regular season, came back to beat them two days later. With this win they advanced to the NESCAC semifinals for the first time in school history, but were knocked out in overtime by the Tufts University Jumbos.

In the last game of the regular season, against the Amherst College Lord Jeffs, Amherst scored the only goal of the game 32 seconds into the second overtime to beat the Bantams in an epic battle on Robin L. Sheppard Field. Trinity was in control for the majority of the game, but did not capitalize on their chances to score.

This loss meant that the Bantams would travel to Amherst in the first round of the NESCAC playoffs instead of having a home game. While disappointing, Trinity had an opportunity to avenge their regular season loss to Amherst in the playoffs. Despite having lost their last two regular season games in overtime, the Bantams did not give up hope and came to the Lord Jeffs home field two days later on Sunday, Nov. 2, looking for a win. Junior Lindsey Waddington scored her first career goal to put the Bantams on top 1-0 and advance them to the semi-finals. "That was the biggest goal of her life," said Head Coach Anne Parmenter.

The next week, on Saturday, Nov. 8, the Bantams faced the undefeated Jumbos for the second time, having lost in overtime in their first matchup. The game was a defensive battle for the Bantams, who faced an unbelievable 35 penalty corners throughout regulation play. Trinity's solid defense was unwavering, as the Jumbos were awarded few quality scoring chances. Junior Meg Ryan, playing the fly position for all 35 corners, was spectacular throughout the course of the game.

While the defense was able to hold off the Jumbos through two tough halves, 7 vs. 7 overtime proved to be too much for the Bantams, as Tufts' Tamara Brown '11 scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway with 5:55 remaining in overtime. The goal pushed the Jumbos to the NESCAC finals, where they lost to the second ranked Bowdoin College Polar Bears.

Despite this loss, the field hockey season is not yet finished for the Bantams. With their best record since the 1998 season in which they advanced to the NCAA Final Four, Trinity received a pool C at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, along with other NESCAC teams from Tufts and Middlebury College. The Bantams will compete in a first round game at home on Robin L. Sheppard Field this Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. against Neumann College in an attempt to keep their season alive.

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