Trinity Women's Soccer Stays Perfect With First Win Over Westfield State
Hartford, Conn. – Junior Karyn Barrett (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and sophomore Abbey Lake (Westport, Conn.) had a goal and an assist apiece to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Westfield State University Owls in women's soccer action this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 13 in the nation, improves to 8-0 with its ninth consecutive victory dating back to last season. Westfield State falls to 5-5 with its second setback in a row. The win is the first for the Bantams in eight all-time meetings against the Owls (1-6-1). Trinity, one of just four NCAA Division III teams left without a loss or a tie, is off to its best start since 1981.
Trinity took a 1-0 lead 7:26 into the contest when Lake scored from Barrett and first-year midfielder Laura Nee (Duxbury, Mass.). In the 38th minute, Bantam junior tri-captain midfielder Elisa Dolan (Bethesda, Md.) took the ball from midfield, dribbled around and through numerous Owl defenders, and deked the goalie to the left before sending a rolling shot into an empty net to give Trinity a 2-0 advantage.
Westfield State freshman forward Hannah Zannini (Amesbury, Mass.) halved the Trinity lead with a blast from the far left wing from junior forward Amanda Grant (Westfield, Mass.) in the 54th minute. Zannini nearly tied the contest 14 minutes later when she took the ball down the left side past the Bantam defense, but shot wide left of the near post. Moments later, Barrett gave Trinity an insurance goal with a bouncing header off a brilliant pass from the right wing by rookie forward Andi Nicholson (Grafton, Mass.).
The Trinity defense, led by junior Maggie Crowe (Lowell, Mass.), sophomores Julia Leahy (Hingham, Mass.) and Kelsey Thomas (Stonington, Conn.), and freshman Sheena Landy (Durham, Conn.), held the Owls to just a single shot that was blocked by Crowe the rest of the way. Bantam sophomore Monica DiFiori (Manhattan Beach, Fla.) made one save and senior captain Jess Habif (Natick, Mass.) stopped five shots for Westfield State. Trinity outshot the Owls, 14-5, and had five corner kicks to one for Westfield State. The game was physical with Trinity whistled for 15 fouls and Westfield State for nine, and three yellow cards were assessed.
