Amherst has consistently beaten Bowdoin in women’s soccer in recent years, with Saturday’s result extending the Jeffs’ winning streak to four consecutive matches. Moreover, in each game of the streak over the Polar Bears, Amherst has scored at least three goals against the porous Polar Bears’ defense. With the win, the Jeffs jump out to 1-0 while the Polar Bears begins the season on the wrong side of the ledger with a 0-1 record.
Juniors Jackie Hirsch and Kyla Woodhouse, each with eight goals and six assists during the 2008 campaign, were responsible for all of Amherst’s scoring. Hirsch drew first blood at the five-minute mark with an unassisted long-distance shot that flew just out of reach of Bowdoin goalkeeper Kat Flaherty before caroming off the bottom of the crossbar into the net. The second goal of the contest, coming off the foot of Woodhouse, came in the 23rd minute on an assist from the wing by sophomore Livia Rizzo.
Hirsch then wrapped up matters in the game’s 65th minute off of an assist by fellow junior Maureen Griffin, whose nifty pass through a swarm of Bowdoin defenders, including the goalkeeper, allowing Hirsch to guide the ball into an open net for career goal number 10.
Despite the score, the game was not as lopsided as the final tally suggested. Amherst had 18 shots on goal to Bowdoin’s 14, and the Jeffs managed only one more corner kick (five) than their opponent. Excellent work by the Amherst goalkeepers, sophomores Allie Horwitz and Claire Bennett, assured the shutout victory, with Horwitz garnering three saves in 67 minutes of play and Bennett coming through with five saves in 23 minutes.
The Lord Jeffs travel to take on the Jumbos of Tufts University on Saturday.