The Bobcats were down by as many as five goals in the first half but closed the gap to within one early in the second at Garcelon Field.

“We got the early goal in the second half,” Bates coach Brett Allen said. “It was 6-5 in the first 30 seconds, and we had it going. Then it turned a little back and forth, and we let it slip when we had some chances.”

That one-goal deficit was as close as the Bobcats would get in the second half. From there, Trinity responded with whatever tally it needed to preserve the lead and a 15-8 win.

“We played well in spurts, but we just didn’t play well for 60 minutes,” Allen said. “If you’re going to beat a good team, you have to play well for 60 minutes.”

Trinity jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and was up by a 6-1 margin late in the first half. Bates rallied with three goals to cut the lead to 6-4 at the half. Then a quick goal following the opening face-off and the Bobcats were within 6-5.

Trinity, ranked eighth nationally, answered with a pair of of goals. Though Bates got within two goals twice at 8-6 and 9-7, the Bobcats couldn’t close the gap. The Bantams then opened the lead up for good with six straight goals.

Martha Griffin led Trinity (4-1) with five goals and two assists. Allie Barrett, Clare Lyne and Abby McInerney each had a pair of goals. McInerney, a Cape Elizabeth native, also had an assist. Caroline Hayes had a goal and two assists.

“We just started to focus on boxing out and doing the little things right,” Trinity coach Katy Dissinger said. “That’s when it kind of turned. We just had some nice spark goals up from our attack to kind of channel that energy and get some more possessions.”

Moriah Greenstein led Bates (4-3) with a goal and two assists. Allison Dewey, Kelan McCann, Alex Briody, Emma Getsinger, Camille Belletete, Teal Otley and Sydney Cowles also had goals for the Bobcats. Hannah Jeffrey was stellar in net with 11 saves. Trinity outshot Bates 30-15.

“It was a little bit of a slow start,” Allen said. “Part of that was them playing well, and part of that was us not recognizing responsibilities as quickly as we needed to. We kind of got our feet under us and played pretty good lacrosse for the next 35 minutes. Every game is competitive. Every game is close. After we got it to a manageable point, we just made some poor decisions and they took advantage of those possessions.”

Trinity got three quick goals in the first five minutes from Hayes, Molly Cox and Griffin. Bates didn’t score until a Belletete tally with 24:41 left in the half.

The Bantams had the lead up to 6-1 with 10:58 left on goals from Griffin, Abby McQuillan and Barrett. Bates made a rally late in the half. After a Getsinger goal, Dewey scored off a pass from Greenstein. Then Greenstein made it 6-4 with 4:20 left.

“We had a good possession right before the half and had a chance to tie it,” Allen said. “We ended up turning it over, but it was a smart possession.”

Briody scored just 24 seconds into the next half. She finished off a Greenstein pass to get the Bobcats within one. Trinity answered with a goal by Lyne after some nice patient passing by the Bantams. Griffin made it 8-5 with a drive to the goal with 25:14 left.

“We talk about it being a total team effort,” Dissinger said. “We move the ball quickly and everybody touches it. Everybody feels good, and it’s not just in one person’s stick. The attack did a nice job of that.”

Bates got an Otley goal off an Annie Duke pass with 22:30 left. After Karly Simpson scored for the Bantams, Bates cut it to 9-7 on a McCann goal. She stole it from goalie Emily Mooney and put it into an open net with 16:11 left.

Trinity responded with six straight goals, two each from Griffin and McInerney. Barrett and Lyne also scored to make it 15-7. Cowles scored with 5:05 left for Bates.

“The momentum shifted a little bit when we started to come up with the draws,” Dissinger said. “Those little things like turnovers and ground balls, it just sparks the energy.”

kmills@sunjournal.com