After storming through the first eight games of the regular season at a rapid pace and with a perfect record, the women’s lacrosse team hit a snag with a 14-3 loss to Middlebury College last weekend. The first eight games were played in quick succession, with at most four days between contests. The Jeffs had a long time to think about their only loss, however. There was an entire week between the Middlebury game and Saturday’s match-up at Williams College. The Amherst squad, ranked eighth in the country, used that time to evaluate and readjust.
“I think the long stretch without games between the Midd. and Williams games was a good thing,” said junior midfielder Mary Noonan. “We were able to evaluate all of the weaknesses that Midd. capitalized on and work on them in preparation for Williams. We worked really hard throughout the week in preparation for the game and I think our investment paid off.”
“We had an intense week of focused practice,” added attacker Christina Hopkins ’10. “Everyone on our team has an incredible work ethic, so we are actually able to benefit from a long stretch without games.”
The Jeffs have traditionally performed well against their archrivals, and Saturday’s 14-6 was no exception. Amherst was dominant from the start to earn the Little Three title.
Amherst started the game with two goals. Williams responded with two of the next three scores to reduce Amherst’s lead to one, twice. Then, with the score at 3-2 and less than 10 minutes remaining in the half, the Jeffs poured on the offense. Amherst scored five straight goals to close the period, and started the second frame with two more. The eight-goal differential stayed intact as each team posted four goals to close the game.
Though Amherst dominated Williams in goals, the Ephs actually took more shots, picked up more ground balls and won more draw controls. The difference was in the quality of Amherst’s play. The Jeffs’ defensive unit of Catherine Calvert ’09, Natalie Singer ’10 and tri-captain Gretchen DeLuke ’08 was stifling, limiting the Ephs to low-percentage shots. As a result, tri-captain goalie Linda McEvoy ’08 picked up a season-high 15 saves.
Perhaps the most impressive statistic of the game was that no Amherst player scored more than two goals, while the team scored 14 times. Ten different Jeffs found the back of the net. Noonan and Hopkins led Amherst with three points on a pair of goals and one assist, each. Attackers Amy Craig ’09 and Robyn Lightner ’11 also each scored twice. Midfielder Kathleen Scheld ’10 had a goal and an assist for two points. Attackers Kelly Trapp ’11 and Liz Adamo ’11 as well as midfielders Tyler Tory-Murphy ’10, Hannah Walker ’10 and Caki Guinee ’09 all scored for Amherst.
After three away games, the Jeffs will kick off a three-game home stand on Thursday when they host Wheaton College at 7:00 p.m. on Gooding Field. “We’ve been away for a while now, so we are all very excited to get back on our turf,” said Lightner. “We’ve had so much success but now we get to bring it back home so we can show the rest of Amherst what we’ve been doing on the road.”
The Jeffs, currently in second place in the NESCAC, will then close out the regular season with three conference games. This weekend they will host 17th-ranked Bowdoin College. The Polar Bears are holding onto the sixth place spot in the NESCAC standings.