Williams Comes Away with 15-13 Victory at Trinity in Women's Lacrosse Quarterfinals
Courtesy Trinity Sports Information
HARTFORD, Conn. – Senior tri-captain attacker Julia Nawrocki (Winchester, England) tallied five goals and two assists to lead visiting Williams to a 15-13 win over Trinity in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 NESCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship this afternoon on Sheppard Field.
Trinity, seeded fourth in the tournament, falls to 10-4 and hopes to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in May. The Ephs, seeded fifth, improve to 11-5 and will play a semifinal game at top-seeded Tufts on Saturday, May 2. The win is the second for Williams in the opening round at Trinity in the last three seasons, having posted a 14-13 triumph in overtime in 2007.
Trailing, 8-7, after back-to-back goals by Trinity junior Kristin Phelps (Sudbury, Mass.) and Caitlin Irvine (Westwood, Mass.) to open the second half, Williams used a 7-1 run over a 15-minute span to take a 14-9 lead with 16:22 remaining in the game. Nawrocki scored once and assisted on two goals during the run, while fellow senior tri-captain Brittany Spackman (Newton, Mass.) scored her two goals in the spurt including the game-winner that gave Williams a 9-8 5:49 after the break.
Williams held a 15-10 lead with 3:27 on the clock when the Bantam junior attacker Jenn Calver (Barnard, Vt.) assisted Irvine and sophomore attacker Christy Bradley (Wellesley, Mass.) on consecutive goals, and Bradley added her fourth tally of the contest with just under one minute remaining. Williams was awarded the ensuing draw on a Bantam foul and maintained possession of the ball the rest of the way. Trinity freshman midfielder Liz Bruno (Andover, Mass.) knocked the ball away from a Williams player with about 30 seconds left, but it fell into an open area and the Ephs corralled it back.
Trinity, which scored seven goals on free positions, opened up a 3-0 lead 5:38 into the contest, but Williams answered with a 5-0 run, before Bradley used a spin move in front of the goal to pull Trinity within one at 5-4 with 12:13 left before intermission. Bradley scored again late to knot the game at 6-6, but Eph freshman attacker Margie Fulton (Wellesley, Mass.) gave Williams a 7-6 edge at half with a goal at the 1:53 mark.
Trinity, playing without injured leading scorer Rachel Romanowsky (Hampstead, N.H.), held a slight advantage in shot at 33-31 and had 27 ground balls to 19 for Williams. Bradley and Irvine paced the Bantams with four goals apiece, while junior midfielder Sarah Remes (Silver Spring, Md.) scored three times. Calver picked up a team-high five ground balls, Irvine recorded a game-high five draw controls, Bruno registered a game-high four caused turnovers, and freshman Gina Dinallo (West Hartford, Conn.) stopped eight shots in goal. Spackman finished with two goals, two assists, three ground balls, and three draw controls for the Ephs, while Fulton added four goals and three draw controls. Williams sophomore goalkeeper Julia Schreiber (Cockeysville, Md.) made 13 saves, including eight in the second half.
