At Middlebury, the undefeated Panthers got their first goal at less than six minutes into the first period as Lauryn Nicasio scored off a feed from Claire Edelen. Edelen scored next off a rebounded shot taken by Middlebury junior Ashley Lyddane. With less than three minutes of play left in the first half, Reid Berrien scored Middlebury's third goal.
Nicasio scored the only second-half goal after collecting a shot off of senior goalkeeper K.C. Cosentino's pads to bring the final score to 4-0. The Panthers posted a whopping 24 shots against the Jeffs. Cosentino performed admirably under tremendous pressure, racking up an impressive 10 saves, while first-year goalie Kathleen Boucher stopped two.
Back on grass after Fall Break, Amherst hoped to produce different results on Oct. 14 against Babson, but ultimately failed to get the win.
Babson opened the scoring at the 16:43 mark of the opening half and brought a 1-0 lead into the break. However, Amherst rallied in the second frame. Within the first few minutes of the half, junior forward Katherine Skrivan entered the scoring circle from the left side and lifted the ball into the cage past the Babson goalie. Though Amherst outshot Babson 6-1, the Jeffs could not find the back of the net again for the win, and the game went into overtime.
Babson found the back of the cage six minutes into the 15-minute sudden-death overtime. Cosentino collected seven saves in the loss.
"It was an especially tough loss," said co-captain defender Emma Feinstein '05. "What made it hardest was that we lost in overtime, and we felt we dominated for most of the game."
Defender Maggie Roth '07 agreed. "Babson was a heartbreaker; we outplayed them the entire game only to lose in overtime," she said.
The Jeffs hosted the Colby College White Mules on Saturday. The lone score of the game came 7:46 into the opening period, when Colby's Christine Maloney scored off a feed from Adrienne LeClair. The White Mules continued to hound the Jeffs, outshooting them 21-3. Midway through the second half it appeared that Skrivan had scored for Amherst off a penalty corner play; however, in a much-disputed call, the referee called back the goal because the ball had not exited the circle.
"The whole team played our hearts out, which makes it all the more frustrating that we didn't get the results we wanted," said Feinstein.
The Amherst defense came up big in the loss, holding Colby scoreless for the remainder of the game. Cosentino played a huge role in stopping the White Mules, as she tallied a massive 19 saves to keep Amherst in the game.
Cosentino is currently ranked third in overall saves in the NESCAC. Her saves-per-game average of 6.7 and her two shutouts put her at fourth in the league in each category.
Head Coach Carol Knerr was especially impressed by Cosentino's performance against Colby. "K.C. Cosentino really stepped up her play on Saturday," said Knerr. "She made some key saves that kept us in the game."
Amherst remains optimistic. "We've been working really hard, but unfortunately it hasn't been producing any winning results," said Roth. "We're hoping for a win this Wednesday over Connecticut College."
Cosentino said, "The team is doing a great job keeping up intensity despite the setbacks of the past few weeks. We've grown a lot as a team and we're eager for the last few games of the season."
The Jeffs visit NESCAC opponent Conn. today at 4:00 p.m., while a trip to Little Three rival Wesleyan University awaits on Saturday.