Amherst's victory over Springfield College, ranked 13th in the nation, on Wednesday was a perfect example of Amherst coming together and playing the way they know they can. The Jeffs, who prepared by practicing late hours at UMass, did not need time to adjust to Springfield's turf. Amherst came out sharp, passing cleanly, communicating well and applying heavy pressure on the Springfield defense. Not even a large, boisterous Springfield fan club could bolster the Pride, who found themselves scrambling to keep up with the Jeffs. Senior midfielder Katherine Ryan converted on a pass from sophomore midfielder Erin Leydon at 9:45 and Amherst quickly found itself with the early lead. The remainder of the first half was filled with offensive production from both sides, but solid defensive efforts kept the score at 1-0 for the rest of the first half.
With halftime over, the two teams picked up right where they left off. With the intensity high, the crowd settled in for a dramatic, action packed second half. Springfield scored a goal off a fast cross just seven minutes into the second half to even the score at one a piece. But Amherst would not give up. In fact, the goal only seemed to motivate them to play harder.
For the next 28 minutes, every shot, penalty or pass seemed like it was going to decide the next goal. Then, with seven and a half minutes remaining in regulation, a penalty corner was called in favor of Amherst. After a small flurry of action, Carlyn Lamia '03 took a pass from Christine Ryan '04, and scored her first career goal to give Amherst the lead.
But Springfield refused to go away quietly. Only three minutes later, Maria Russo scored an unassisted goal to tie the game back up. The Pride kept the momentum, but luckily for Amherst only four minutes remained until the Pride's momentum was stalled by the end of regulation play.
"We played with confidence against Springfield, and as a result the 50/50 balls and calls went our way," said senior co-captain Molly O'Connor. "We used that as momentum to fire us up throughout the game." There is no doubt the team was fired up for the overtime period.
Just like the first two halves, both teams came out hard and never stopped playing hard. The momentum shifted back and forth, but excellent saves, including two difficult saves by sophomore K.C. Costentino, kept the game even. Because there are only six players on the field per team in overtime, more passing lanes and unsettled plays open up. With 51 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, senior Abby Ouimet, who had to sit out two games due to an ankle sprain, took advantage of an unsettled situation and scored an unassisted goal to win the game. The bench cleared to greet Ouimet and the rest of her teammates in the middle of the field in celebration.
As well as Amherst played against cross-town rival Springfield, Amherst could not reproduce that same effort in Maine, falling 2-0 to Bowdoin College on Saturday. "Against Bowdoin we got on our heels and could not keep the ball on attack," said O'Connor.
Shots and penalty corners were clearly in favor of Bowdoin, who aggressively took the game from Amherst. Bowdoin's goalie, Gillian McDonald, had an easy day in net, as she was forced to make only two saves all afternoon. Leah McClure scored both goals for Bowdoin, one in each half, to lead the Polar Bears to a 2-0 win. Consentino again played well in goal for the Jeffs, racking up a season high 14 saves. With the win, Bowdoin went to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the NESCAC, while Amherst fell to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
"We started losing confidence, which led to hesitation, missed hits and mental fouls," O'Connor said. The Amherst women take on non-league opponent Mount Holyoke College this Wednesday before traveling to Vermont on Saturday to do battle with Middlebury College.