Things didn't look good for Amherst in the opening minutes of the Williams game. In what defender Robin Ackerman '02 described as "a slow start," three different Eph attackers notched goals, giving them a three-point advantage over the Jeffs. A goal from Erin Beaumont '03 and two from Jackie Sargent '04 allowed the Jeffs to knot the score at three apiece. The three goals came off of assists from Abby Ouimet '03, last week's NESCAC Player of the Week. In all, Ouimet dished out four assists on the day, and Sargent and Mary Kate Allen '03 each wrestled the ball past the Williams defense three times.
"I am impressed with how quickly we picked up our level of play," said Ackerman. "We played very well as a team and we made good connections all over the field."
Co-captain Carrie Foster '02 agreed with Ackerman. "We started off a little shaky against Williams," she said. "But then I think we started possessing the ball more, playing tougher defense and making good decisions offensively."
The battle for an advantage in the first half resulted in a dead heat and the two teams retired to the sidelines for the break with the score tied, 5-5. The second half, however, saw a determined Allen score all three of her hits, including the game winner, with less than four minutes remaining. "Our offense was really patient and worked their defense until it cracked, and then we capitalized," said Foster.
"The team played aggressive defense on both ends of the field," Ackerman added.
Junior goalie Brooke Diamond was solid in the net for Amherst, finishing with 11 saves on the day. "Brooke had two spectacular games this weekend," said Ackerman. Diamond upped the ante on Sunday in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament, when she posted a season-high 19 saves against the Bantam offense.
Against Trinity, six different Jeffs cracked the defense for a goal. Allen started off the barrage with a goal 1:06 in off an assist from Erin Beaumont '03 and scored again 11 minutes later off a feed from Laura Schifter '03. Sargent connected late in the first half to give the Jeffs a 7-2 lead at the break.
"I don't know whether it was the weather or not, but we played a pretty sloppy game in terms of catching and throwing against Trinity," Foster said. "Fortunately, we were causing them to turn the ball over a lot and offensively we were very successful at beating their defense."
"The Trinity game was freezing and rainy and our hands felt like they were going to fall off, therefore making it difficult to make many successful connections anywhere on the field," added Allen. "But we never let ourselves get too frustrated and sparked by Brooke's amazing saves in goal, our team proved to clearly be the better team."
Ouimet scored two quick goals to open up the second half, taking a pass from Liz Martin '04 to score the second. Trinity didn't die without a fight and two Bantam goals late in the game rounded out the day's scoring. "I was really pleased to see an even distribution of goals made by my teammates this weekend," Foster said. "It always feels better when everyone contributes to a win."