Rob Nogueras posted four goals and one assist to lead nationally ranked No. 20 Trinity College to a 14-8 win over Hamilton College in a 2012 NESCAC Championship quarterfinal at Trinity's Jessee/Miller Field on April 28.
Trinity (10-5 overall) was the championship's No. 2 seed, while Hamilton was the No. 7 seed. It was Trinity's second win in seven NESCAC Championship appearances. The Bantams advance to take on No. 3 seed Bowdoin in a semifinal at Tufts University on Saturday, May 5. The loss snaps Hamilton's three-game win streak.
Matthew Hauck added two goals and two assists, and Steve Manning and Nick Shaheen chipped in two goals apiece for Trinity. Chris Sweitzer posted one goal and one assist, and Jeff Hebert, Nick Branholm and James O'Connell scored the other goals. Terrence Olsen was credited with two assists, and Chase Growney and Matt Cohen each added one.
T.J. Cholnoky won 10 of 14 faceoffs and scooped up a game-high five ground balls. Charles Finnegan picked up four ground balls, and Alex Gottsch caused three turnovers. Peter Johnson made eight saves in goal.
Jon Leanos '12 led the Continentals with three goals -- all in the first half -- and two assists. Leanos moved into a tie for fourth place on the team's all-time list with 92 assists. Henry Burchenal '12 tallied two goals, and Paul Armideo '13 posted one goal and one assist. Bryan Hopper '14 and McCullough Shriver '13 scored the other goals. Luke Sadoff '12 was credited with three assists.
Baylis Treen '15 caused three turnovers and Chad Berger '14 caused two. Paul Citarella '12 won seven faceoffs. Max Vaickus '12 stopped 10 shots in net.
After the score was tied 5-5 at halftime, Burchenal's goal off an assist from Sadoff gave the Continentals their last lead at 6-5 with 13:48 remaining in the third quarter.
Trinity responded with the next three goals to take an 8-6 lead with 6:41 left in the third. Shaheen tied the score at 6 with an unassisted goal at 12:11, and Olsen found Nogueras for a goal that put the Bantams ahead for good with 11:53 remaining in the quarter. Sweitzer added a goal off an assist from Olsen.
Hamilton (9-6) pulled within 8-7 with 1:59 left in the third when Shriver tallied an unassisted goal. Growney fed O'Connell for a man-up goal at 12:39 of the fourth while two Continentals were serving penalties. Hauck found Nogueras for a score 32 seconds later to give Trinity a 10-7 advantage.
Armideo cut Hamilton's deficit to 10-8 with a goal off an assist from Leanos with 7:55 remaining. But Manning sandwiched a pair of goals around tallies from Hebert and Hauck for the final margin.
Shaheen put Trinity on the board with an unassisted goal at 11:31 of the first quarter, and Nogueras doubled the Bantams' lead 29 seconds later. Leanos pulled Hamilton even with back-to-back goals to close the first quarter.
Each team tallied three times in the second quarter. Branholm, Hauck and Nogueras each scored for Trinity. Leanos, Burchenal and Hopper all found the back of the net for Hamilton.
Trinity held a 34-25 shot advantage and a 16-9 edge in faceoffs. Hamilton defeated Trinity 9-7 on April 21 in Clinton. The Continentals were making their first appearance in this event. Hamilton's lacrosse teams competed in the Liberty League from 1996 to 2011.
