LEWISTON, Maine -- The Trinity College men's lacrosse team grabbed a 3-0 lead after one period and maintained its edge the rest of the way in a 9-7 NESCAC victory over Bates College at Campus Avenue Field on Sunday.

The Bantams (6-3, 3-2 NESCAC) received three goals apiece from junior Sam Slater (Lutherville, Md.) and junior Kris Tedeschi (Norwell, Mass.), as well as an outstanding effort in goal from sophomore Alex Palma (Chappaqua, N.Y.), who had 14 saves, 12 of them in the second half.

Bates junior Justin Simon (Canaan, N.H.) scored three goals to lead the Bobcats, while senior Matt Erisman (Nantucket, Mass.) added two goals and an assist. Senior Amadi Cisse (Hanover, N.H.) had one goal and two assists, and junior Brent Morin (Hanover, N.H.) added a goal and an assist. Senior Peter Boston (Acton, Mass.) made six saves.

Trinity sophomore Zachary Trudeau (Norwell, Mass.) scored unassisted for the game's first goal, followed by scores from Tedeschi and Slater. Simon broke the streak to make it 3-1, but the Bantams added two straight to make it 5-1 Trinity, as sophomore Adam Cox (Garden City, N.Y.) picked up a loose ball and, with Boston caught out of the goal, fired into an open net. Tedeschi made it 5-1 on the second assist of the game by first-year Raymond Mooney (Wellesley, Mass.).

Erisman began making up ground for the Bobcats, with a power-play goal with 4:18 left in the second quarter, assisted by Morin, followed by a brilliant score with 21 seconds left in the quarter and Trinity in a man-advantage situation. After Palma made a terrific save of a Morin shot, Erisman scooped the rebound and flicked the ball into the net while falling down.

Trinity regained momentum as the third quarter began with unassisted goals by Tedeschi and Slater. Bates embarked on a three-goal run, with two from Simon folowed by Cisse's goal, to close the game to 7-6 with 5:13 left in the game. But the Bantams squelched the rally with a Slater unassisted tally 36 seconds later, and senior Curtis Kahn's (Cohasset, Mass.) first career goal gave Trinity a 9-6 cushion. Morin scored a power-play goal on a Cisse assist to close the gap to 9-7 with 24 seconds left in the game.

Bates next plays at Middlebury on April 17; Trinity will host Middlebury on April 14.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Trinity.............  3  2  2  2 -  9
Bates...............  0  3  1  3 -  7

Trinity SCORING:
GOALS: Sam Slater 3; Kris Tedeschi 3; Curtis Kahn 1; Zachary Trudeau 1; Adam Cox 1.
ASSISTS: Raymond Mooney 2; Curtis Kahn 1.

Bates SCORING:
GOALS: Justin Simon 3; Matt Erisman 2; Amadi Cisse 1; Brent Morin 1.
ASSISTS: Amadi Cisse 2; Matt Erisman 1; Bryan Frates 1; Brent Morin 1.

PENALTIES - Trinity 3/3:00; Bates 5/3:30.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - Trinity 0-5; Bates 2-7.

FACEOFFS - Trinity 13-16; Bates 3-16.

CLEARS - Trinity 17-23; Bates 10-12.

GOALIES - TRI: Alex Palma (60:00 minutes, 21 shots-14 saves, 7 GA); BAT: Peter Boston (60:00, 15-6, 9).

2007-04-08