Hartford, Conn. – Junior attackman James Skiff (Portland, Maine) tallied three goals and an assist to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 9-2 win over the visiting Bates College Bobcats in their New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men’s lacrosse season opener on Robin L. Sheppard Field this afternoon. Trinity is now 1-0 overall and in the NESCAC, while the Bobcats drop to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the league with its third loss in a row.

The game was never in doubt as Trinity scored the only two goals of the first quarter and three out of four in the second to take a 6-1 lead at the half. Bantam senior tri-captain attackman Ravi Pillay (Falls Church, Va.) netted both of his goals in the opening stanza, and freshman midfielder Coly Smith (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) scored his first career goal with 11:27 left in the second frame. Sophomore middie Peter Friedman (Putney, Vt.) cut the score to 3-1 at the 6:56 mark of the second quarter, but the Bantams found the net three times in the final 2:31 before intermission.

Pillay finished with two goals and two assists, while Smith had two goals and an assist, and senior tri-captain midfielder Erik Mazmanian (Newton, Mass.) and freshman middie Chad Burdette (Owings Mills, Md.) each notched his first career goal and added an assist for the Bantams. Junior Geoff Shaw (Charlotte, N.C.) made 15 stops in goal for Trinity, and senior Mark Dobbyn, R.I. (Warren, R.I.) had 13 saves for the Bobcats. Bates junior attackman Brad Frost (Winchester, Mass.) recorded a goal and an assist.

GOALS
B- Peter Friedman, Brad Frost.
TC- James Skiff 3, Ravi Pillay 2, Coly Smith 2, Erik Mazmanian, Chad Burdette

ASSISTS
B- Dan Ross, Frost
TC- Mazmanian, Skiff, Peter McIntire, Smith, Pillay 2, Will Seifert, Burdette,

GOALIE SAVES
B- Mark Dobbyn 13
TC- Geoff Shaw 15

SHOTS
B- 33, TC- 32