Crazy Conference: Jeffs Beat No. 4 Trinity
from press release
AMHERST, Mass. – The 18th-ranked Amherst College
women's lacrosse team upset No. 4 Trinity College 5-4 this evening
to earn a home game in the upcoming Quarterfinal Round of the 2010
NESCAC Championship Tournament. The Lord Jeffs will host an
opponent still to be determined on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. on
Gooding Field.
With the win, Amherst improves to 10-4 (6-3 NESCAC) on the year,
while Trinity falls to 12-2 (7-2) with the loss. The difference in
the game was the performances of the two teams on free-position
shots. While the Bantams finished the day 0-for-7 on FPS attempts,
the Lord Jeffs scored on 3-of-4 attempts to power the win.
Sophomore Allie Horwitz (Woodbridge, CT) scored the game-winner on
an FPS shot with 5:36 remaining in the second half.
Amherst got a lift to start the game by welcoming senior co-captain
Tyler Tory-Murphy (Sea Cliff, NY) back to the lineup from a knee
injury on Senior Day. Prior to the game, Tory-Murphy was honored
alongside fellow co-captain Kathleen Scheld (Yorktown Heights, NY)
and classmates Hannah Walker (Greenwich, CT) and Natalie Singer
(Slingerlands, NY) for their contributions to the program over the
last four seasons. Tory-Murphy was able to play nearly half of the
game, appearing for the first time in over a month to scoop up a
ground ball and a pair of draw controls.
After almost ten minutes of scoreless action to start the game,
Scheld put Amherst on the board with an FPS score with 20:36 to
play in the first half. Amherst's lead lasted for only four
minutes, as Trinity's Kaitlin Hidebrand finished off a feed from
Sarah Remes to tie the score at 1-1 with 16:43 showing on the
clock.
Amherst regained the lead just 17 seconds before the midpoint of
the first half, with first-year Hillary Denson (Summit, NJ) scoring
on Amherst's second free-position goal of the game. The lead would
hold for just 77 seconds this time, as Bantam Megan Leonhard scored
an unassisted tally with 14:00 remaining in the first half.
Another Lord Jeff rookie gave Amherst a 3-2 lead heading into the
break, as Marta Randall (Monkton, MD) made a beautiful back-door
cut to free herself for a pass from Horwitz for a score. The score
came with 7:37 remaining in the first half.
Coming out of the halftime stoppage, the Bantams won the opening
draw and needed just 18 seconds to equalize for a third time. After
moving the ball into its offensive zone, Trinity got the ball to
Remes for an unassisted score through the middle of the Amherst
defense.
Trinity took its first lead of the game with 21:00 remaining as
Hildebrand struck again. Leonhard picked up the helper on the
fourth Trinity score. With 17:53 to play, Randall answered, tying
the game 4-4 with a leaping quick-stick finish off a feed by Walker
from behind the cage.
After more than a dozen minutes of end-to-end action, Horwitz was
fouled with 5:36 to play, setting up the game-winning situation.
Horwitz beat Trinity netminder Gina Dinallo with a low shot, giving
Amherst the 5-4 lead.
Down the stretch, Trinity pushed for an equalizer, but Amherst
goalie Lamia Harik (Rye Brook, NY) came up huge between the pipes.
With less than a minute remaining, Leonhard was awarded an FPS
attempt from straight away, but Harik made the save look easy. The
young Amherst netminder finished with nine saves, but none was more
clutch than the FPS stop in the waning moments.
Amherst will have to await the result of this evening's game
between Tufts and Bowdoin (8:30 p.m. start) to know who it will
host on Sunday in the conference tournament. Trinity had already
clinched the top seed in the tournament prior to today's game, and
will face Bates at home.
