HARTFORD, CT. -- Gwynedd Mercy was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament as the Griffins suffered a 5-3 loss at Trinity in a first-round game Wednesday night. Brianna O'Connell scored a pair of goals and Melissa Russo added another but GMercyU saw their 2-1 halftime lead turn into a deficit as the Bantams scored four times in the second.

Trinity, representing the New England Small College Athletic Conference, struck first, scoring 4:56 into the contest as Kelcie Finn set up Chandler Solimine for the 1-0 edge. Less than five minutes later, O'Connell netted her first of two on the evening as she used a reverse sweep from a feed by Kaitlyn Lutz to get one by Trinity goalie Lori Berger.

After 20 minutes of back and forth action including some tough stops from Berger, Russo would convert her 38th goal of the season with only 5:22 before the half off another assist from Lutz.

Gwynedd outshot Trinity, 10-4, in the first 35 minutes.

In the second, the Bantams (13-6) scored twice early in the stanza, just 46 seconds apart. Finn scored her first of three tallies to give Trinity a 3-2 lead with 27:06 remaining. Nine minutes later, the Griffins were called for a violation in the crease, with a penalty stroke awarded to Trinity. Gwynedd goalie Sarah Crane got a piece of Finn's attempt, but not enough to keep the shot out of the cage. With 11:33 left in the contest, Finn added her third to put Gwynedd on its heels.

But the Griffins did not go quietly as O'Connell knocked in a rebound from Russo to cut it to 5-3 with 4:10 showing on the clock. For O'Connell the goal was her 27th on the season.

The Bantams were able to keep Gwynedd from registering any more offense the rest of the way in advancing to the next round.

Crane finished the night with five saves while Berger recorded seven. Both teams took four corners apiece.

The loss marks the end of the run for the team's five seniors: Russo, O'Connell, Noelle Schillinger, Madison Reiss, and Abigail Gabriel. The five accumulated a 66-21 overall record with a 27-1 conference mark while appearing in four conference championship games. The Griffins captured titles in 2014 and this past season.

Russo leaves the program as its all-time scoring leader, totaling 234 points on 99 goals and 36 assists. She also has the single-season points mark, accumulating 90 points on 38 goals and 14 assists, which ranks her among the leaders in all of Division III. O'Connell puts her stamp in the books as well, registering 68 career goals and 156 points to put her third all time.

Additionally, the offense goes down in school history as the most prolific, amassing program highs in points (275), goals (107), and third-best in assists (61).

The Griffins finish the 2017 season with a school record in wins, going 17-4 and 7-0 in conference play.