Women continue uncharacteristic slide with losses to Dutchwomen and Lord Jeffs Jeffs

Middlebury dropped its fourth NESCAC game of the season to the Trinity College Bantams on Saturday. The Panthers had a tough week overall, losing to both Union College and Amherst College in midweek games before hitting the road to face Trinity on Saturday.

The Trinity women’s lacrosse team is definitely on the rise. In the last 20 meetings between Trinity and Middlebury, Middlebury had won nineteen. But Trinity stole Middlebury’s chance at 20 straight wins with a convincing 12-8 defeat of the Panthers. With the win, Trinity remains in the first-ranked spot in the NESCAC, improving to 10-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference.

Middlebury now holds the seventh spot in the NESCAC.

Trinity was all over Middlebury from the start of the game. The team had a four-goal lead after the first seven minutes of play, with goals coming from three different Bantam scorers.

The Panthers struggled to respond, but they were able to get three goals on the board before halftime. Middlebury finished the first half with a six-goal deficit to face in the second, Trinity was dominating 9-3.

“We forget sometimes that in the past, we have been the number one team to beat, so teams really get up for games against us,” said Chase Delano ’11.

“We have histories with most of the NESCAC teams where they have been able to win only a few of our contests.

We are a team they naturally want revenge on.”

In spite of early setbacks, Middlebury came to play in the second half. Trinity was able to get a few quick goals on the board, but Middlebury rallied to score four unanswered goal to come within four goals of Trinity’s lead with just under six minutes left in the game.

Middlebury’s goals came from the usual suspects. Senior tri-captain Dana Heritage ’10 and Sally Ryan ’11 both added three for the Panthers, while first-year Margaret Souther ’13 and Liz Garry ’12 added one apiece for Middlebury.

Senior tri-captain Catherine Gotwald ’10 led the defense with five ground balls. However, despite her effort, the Middlebury defense struggled to hold Trinity off. The Bantams earned nine free-position opportunities throughout the game and successfully converted six of them.

“I don’t think it was an issue of effort,” added Delano.

“We played hard, especially for it being our fourth game in a week, but Trinity was really on their game and they were able to win the battles all over the field.”

Trinity was able to pepper goalie Lily Nguyen ’12 with 33 shots on net. Nguyen, who currently has the highest save percentage in the NESCAC, finished with an impressive 14 saves in the game.

Trinity ended Middlebury’s late scoring spurt when Bantam goalie Gina Dinallo stopped a shot by Souther late in the second half to gain possession for her team. Dinallo finished with nine saves for Trinity. The Bantams were able to maintain possession for the remaining five and a half minutes of the game. They effectively stalled the game to prevent Middlebury possession and any further chances on goal.

Middlebury will take on Tufts University next, a team that is currently ranked third in the NESCAC and has suffered only two losses thus far this season. The Panthers will play the Jumbos at home on Saturday at 2 p.m.