Box Score Hartford, CT—Trinity College (1-0/1-0 NESCAC) defeated Williams College (0-1/0-1 NESCAC) under icy winds at Sheppard Field this afternoon. The season opener for both teams was a reminder of the high level of competition in the NESCAC Division III league, in which the Ephs compete. The Trinity College Bantams, ranked third nationally, beat Williams with a score of 12-6.
It seemed it could be anyone's game at the begining of the first half, with the two teams trading goals for the first few minutes. Sophomore Eliza Quigley scored a free position shot with 9 minutes and 42 seconds left of the first half, narrowing the score gap to 3-2 to bring the Ephs within one point of a tie. Within the next minute, however, the Bantams began to pull even further away. Trinity's Clare Lyne scored a free position shot with the clock at 8:44. The sophomore scored one more goal before halftime, assisted by sophomore Emma Malicki, bringing the Trinity lead to 5 points against Williams' 2.
Trinity maintained a strong lead throughout the remainder of the game, with the Ephs never coming within three points of a tie after this point. Coach Chris Mason says the team hopes to work in the future to "clean up ball handling errors" that were seen on the field today. She attributes to this weakness the number of unforced turnovers which gave the Bantams an upper hand on the offensive.
She also pointed to the strength of the Trinity goalkeeper, junior Zoe Ferguson, who saved 9 of the 15 shots on goal in today's game. Williams goalkeeper Margaret Draper also played well in the afternoon's match and saved 5 of the 17 shots taken by Trinity. In general, Coach Mason says the defense played particularly well against this tough competitor.
The 6 goals posted by Williams today were scored by 4 different players. Sophomore Emma Tenbarge got in one shot 5 minutes into the first half and was able to score again 15 minutes from the end of the game. Senior Jenna Chodos scored twice in the second half of the game, with her first goal assisted by co-captain Brett Bidstrup and the second unassisted. The second first-half goal was scored by sophomore Eliza Quigley, who also assisted the game's final goal, scored by sophomore Suzanna Penikis.
The Ephs will be playing at home tomorrow at 4:45, when they will be taking on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute team.
