All was not lost, however. Before the game began, Amherst celebrated the accomplishments of seniors Catherine Calvert, Amy Craig, Caki Guinee and Mary Noonan, four stalwarts responsible for the Class of 2009’s outstanding 40-22 record and trips to the National Quarterfinals in 2006 and 2008.
The game itself was scarcely a minute old when the Mules’ Lauren Strazzula tossed an assist to Becky Julian, who put the ball into the Amherst net. At the other end of the field, Noonan nearly returned the favor, only to be thwarted by a fantastic save from Colby goalie Sarah Warnke. An unassisted goal by the Mules’ Heather Nickerson doubled the visitors’ advantage before the Lord Jeffs could manage their first score of the day from Noonan. First-year Allie Horwitz’s unassisted dodge shot from behind the net knotted the game at 2-2 and seemed to ignite the rest of the Amherst offense, as Amherst took its first lead at the 13 minute mark with a great assist from Kelley Trapp ’11 to Craig.
But moments later, Craig was issued a yellow card — an opportunity Colby’s Kate Sheridan took when she evened the score at 3-3. Not to be denied, Craig once more put the ball into the net on an assist from Hannah Walker ’10. When the dust cleared, Amherst had again seized the lead, only to see it evaporate when the Mules deadlocked the game 4-4 on a Nickerson goal off a Sheridan pass. But the Lord Jeffs were not finished yet, and Noonan’s second goal at the 2:30 mark gave Amherst a 5-4 lead at halftime.
Colby opened the second half much like the first, scoring the first goal of the stanza on a pass from Julian to Kathleen Kramer, again drawing the Mules even at 5-5. With 22:38 left to play, Colby received its second consecutive yellow card, opening the door to a point from Lindsey Moran ’12 on the resulting free-position shot. Moran’s goal was followed by another from Walker, with an assist by Trapp, giving the Lord Jeffs some breathing room and a 7-5 lead.
Then Trapp made her third assist of the game, enabling junior Tyler Tory-Murphy to net a goal that lifted the Lord Jeffs into a three point lead, 8-5. But Colby came back to score two goals in succession, by Kramer and Campbell, both via free-position shots, to bring the Mules to within one, at 8-7.
Great saves at both ends of the field, by Warnke and Amherst goalie Lamia Harik ’12, only hiked the tension before Colby’s Sheridan scored a huge goal with little more than a minute to play in regulation, tying the contest at 8-8. With seconds left, Colby again brought the ball down on Harik with a 2-on-1 play, but Harik made a thrilling save to send the incredible game into overtime.
In overtime, a Colby goal by Julian was matched by a Craig goal in the second half of the OT, followed by a final Colby goal by Sheridan with about a minute to go, giving Colby the hard-fought victory at 10-9. If ever both teams deserved to win, this was one of those games. Amherst battled back time and again, and, with a tiny break or two, the outcome could easily have been reversed. Trinity is the team’s next opponent, before the NESCAC Tournament next Sunday.