Bantams Defeat Jumbos, 9-8

Sophomore Megan Leonhard led the Bantam attack with 5 goals






In a battle of nationally-ranked teams, #4 Trinity came away with an exciting one goal win over #12 Tufts on Tufts turf in Medford, MA. Tufts got on board first, with a free position goal, but the Bantams responded with three goals in a row, a beautifully assisted tally by Bruno, sandwiched by free position goals by Kaitlin and Madeleine. Free positions would prove to be the theme of the day, as Tufts added two more free position goals before the end of the first half. Nine of the seventeen goals of the contest were the result of free positions. With some great defensive play on both ends, the score remained low at the half, with Tufts maintaining a slight 5-4 advantage.

We looked to keep the ball moving on offense in the second half, while capitalizing on high percentage plays. In the first, we were guilty of forcing passes and taking the first decent opportunity, instead of waiting for a great opportunity. With some great patience, Lenny went on a tear, scoring 4 goals, two assisted by Rachel and one assisted by Haley, while the forth was a free position goal. The assisted goals were beautifully executed, with Lenny driving on the catch and placing the ball just inside the crossbar and out of the goalkeepers reach. The Bantams took a 9-6 lead with 15 minutes left, but Tufts chipped away with under 5 minutes to pull within one goal. However, the attack, with help from those defenders behind the restraining line, was able to stall for the last two minutes of the game to come away with a 9-8 victory.

The defensive unit held strong, limiting Tufts to just a single goal for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Mal and Emma were stellar on defense, with two grounds balls and two caused turnovers each. The defense also did a great job in transition, successfully clearing the ball 14 times, out of 16 tries, while breaking up Tufts offensive transition 5 times. Liv was great in goal, coming up with 4 saves in each half for a total of 8 stops. Next week, we will continue to work on draw controls, as the Jumbos recorded 11 to our 8.