Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. – Two days after dropping a double-overtime thriller to Amherst at home, Trinity exacted its revenge by earning a 1-0 victory over the Lord Jeffs on Gooding Field in the quarterfinal round of the 2008 NESCAC Field Hockey Championship. Trinity improves to 12-3 (6-3 NESCAC) and advances to the semifinals for the first time in tournament history to take on top-seeded Tufts Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11:00 a.m.

Amherst ends its season at 10-5 (6-3 NESCAC).

Trinity broke the scoreless tie after a Christina Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) breakaway with 21 minutes remaining resulted in a corner. The Bantams capitalized on the situation with crisp passing that resulted in a shot and goal for Lindsey Waddington (Granby, Conn.), who knocked the ball into the left corner just 15 minutes into the game.

Neither team was able to advance the ball into the circle for the first eight minutes of the game. Trinity responded to Amherst’s first penalty corner by quickly advancing the ball to the Amherst circle and earning its first corner 10 minutes into the half. The Bantams moved the ball to the right post, pulling first-year goalie Emily Vitale (Cheshire, Conn.) away from the cage. Senior co-captain Karli Del Rossi (Mantua, N.J.) shot the ball passed Vitale, but junior Tierney Healey (Moreland Hills, Ohio) was in the right spot to pick up her fifth defensive save of the season.

A flurry of Amherst offense nearly resulted in goals from first-year Sarah McCarrick (New Canaan, Conn.) and junior Molly Malloy (Stamford, Conn.), but the Bantams escaped the first half unharmed despite being out-shot by the Jeffs, 7-3.

Trinity dominated possession in the first 10 minutes of the second half, earning two corners and two shots, one of which was on goal, while Amherst failed to mount any serious threats. With 13 minutes remaining in regulation, Malloy attempted Amherst’s first shot of the half from the middle of the circle, but first-year goalie Gina DiNallo (West Hartford, Conn.) casually kicked the ball away to maintain the lead.

With only three minutes to play, Malloy had a strong shot from right side in front of the goal, but DiNallo again came up with the save. Waddington’s goal proved to be enough for the Bantams, who advanced to the NESCAC Championship semifinal round with a 1-0 victory.

Amherst’s 10-5 record marks the best finish since 2003, when head coach Carol Knerr and the Lord Jeffs went 11-5 and advanced to the NESCAC semifinals. Amherst started the 2008 season with a 4-4 record before rattling off six straight wins to earn a first-round home game for the first time since 2003.