Bates grabbed an early lead in Saturday's contest on a goal from Catherine Crosby at 34:46. The Bobcats held the 1-0 advantage for over 50 minutes, aided by a few key saves from keeper Lynne Antinarelli and an offense that outshot the Lord Jeffs 12-6 in the match.
With less than five minutes left, Bates looked to have the win in the bag. However the Jeffs' leading scorer, Ashley Harmeling '05, took a feed from Alexa Lawson-Remer '04 and tied the game with her fourth goal of the fall.
Harmeling's goal was the last of the scoring. Two difficult overtimes left both teams weary, and Amherst goalie Jeanette Crowell '07 matched Bates' Antinarelli, making six saves to keep the tie intact.
The tie at Bates moved Amherst to 0-2-1 on the NESCAC season and 2-2-1 in overall play. "The Bates game is always a battle as they are always very athletic," said Head Coach Michelle Morgan. "We were encouraged by the intensity even when we were a goal down."
Morgan seemed far more satisfied with the team's performance against ECSU on Wednesday. "We finally played hard like we wanted to in the game against Eastern Connecticut," she said. "The team made better adjustments during the flow of the game and worked hard for the win."
Amherst outplayed ECSU in almost every aspect of Wednesday's 2-1 victory. The Jeffs held an 18-12 edge in shots, forcing ECSU goalie Stacey Schofield to make 11 saves, while Crowell only had to make four saves and allowed just one goal on the Warriors' 12 shots.
Despite their overpowering performance, the Jeffs were never able to put the Warriors away. Harmeling bent a 20-yard kick over the head of Schofield with eight seconds left in the half at 44:52 for her third goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. ECSU came back to knot the score at 1-1 early in the second half on a goal from Jenn Orme.
With 3:32 left in the game, rookie substitute Lesley Pruzansky rescued the Jeffs. Pruzansky coolly nailed an unassisted goal as the Amherst bench erupted in celebration, giving women's soccer a 2-1 win.
Tri-captain Kay Bradley '04 was relieved to finish the Jeffs' season-opening five-game road trip. "Constantly being on the road has been challenging, and our trip to Maine this weekend was particularly exhausting," she said. "Although we have had great parental support at all of our games, I expect that the presence of our peers and the comfort of our home turf will give us the boost we need to beat Springfield and Bowdoin this week and turn our season around."