A wave of momentum will be following the women’s lacrosse team as the Jeffs head into the playoffs. Amherst has won four games in a row and will look to close out the regular season with another at Colby College on Saturday. With a 12-1 record (7-1 NESCAC), the Jeffs have secured the second seed in the NESCAC Tournament, and will host a first-round game on Sunday. Their opponent, the seventh seed, will be determined on Saturday, as the teams currently in sixth through ninth place each have a game against a team also in sixth through ninth place. Regardless of what team grabs the final playoff spot, the Jeffs will bring confidence from their strong play at the end of the regular season.
Last Thursday, Amherst ended its non-conference slate with a feel-good victory over Wheaton College. The Jeffs held a 3-1 advantage with 23:30 remaining in the first half, and then piled on nine goals to take an 11-point lead. Amherst also won the second half as the final score read 17-5.
It was a true team effort for Amherst, as every player got in the game, including first-year goalie Caroline Burke who made four saves while playing the entire second half. The Jeffs were paced in the scoring column by attackers Amy Craig ’09 and Christina Hopkins ’10, who posted four goals apiece. Meanwhile, midfielder Mary Noonan ’09 had a goal and dished out four assists for five points. But this was not a game about individual efforts. Every starter—aside from the low defenders, who don’t cross the restraining line, and the goalie—scored in the game.
In the next game, the defense continued to do its job, but the bench was significantly shorter, in what turned out to be a low-scoring contest against Bowdoin College. The Jeffs’ win in overtime was a monkey off their back, as Amherst had lost its last three games against Bowdoin. “It was a huge game because we hadn’t beaten them in so long,” said Craig, who scored the game-winner. “I think the whole team was really ready to use the momentum from our season to beat a team that had constantly been a challenge to us.”
It was no surprise that this was a close game. Over the past three years every Amherst-Bowdoin game has been decided by one goal or in overtime. The drama continued on Saturday.
The teams traded goals at the start of the game, but Bowdoin was able to take a 5-3 lead into halftime. The Polar Bears then doubled Amherst’s point total with a goal to start the second half. That was the last time Bowdoin found the back of the net, as the Jeffs mounted a comeback. Amherst scored three goals in the next 8:39 to bring the score to 6-6. Both teams were shut out for the next 25 minutes, including a six-minute overtime period and 3:38 of sudden death. Craig ended the drought with her 35th goal of the season.
Amherst carried that momentum into yesterday’s game against Tufts University. The Jeffs doubled up the Jumbos 14-7. “We went into the Tufts game expecting them to really challenge us all over the field, but I think today we were really focused on us and what we were doing out there and less about the other team,” said Craig. “We were able to come out really strong at the beginning by getting the draw controls and ground balls all over the field.”
Amherst was led by Noonan’s five-goal two-assist effort—including a spectacular goal off a draw control with .1 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Amherst defense has been stifling of late, with a mere 4.67 GAA in the last three games. On the other end, the offense has been getting the job done. The Jeffs plan to continue their dominant play when they wrap up the regular season this weekend, and take their momentum into the playoffs.