AMHERST, Mass. Junior Amherst College striker/midfielder Hallison Putnam (Lexington, KY) put back the rebound of her own miss in the 52nd minute, and the Jeffs withstood a late charge by visiting Williams College, as the hosts held on for the dramatic 1-0 Saturday morning victory over their arch-rivals on Hitchcock Field.
The Ephs had the better part of play throughout the first half, putting together a number of offensive opportunities, including a trio of shots from senior Cameron Walker (Winston-Salem, NC). The Amherst defense, however, as would be the story throughout the day, never allowed the Ephs to break through. Along with the quartet of senior Co-captain Meg Riley (Wellesley, MA), junior Margaret Rubin (Maclean, VA) and sophomores Kate Shipley (Newton, MA) and Brianne Watkins (Northport, NY), Amherst goalie Brooke Diamond (Longmeadow, MA) saved one of her best performances of the season for when it was needed most, posting six of her season-high 10 saves in the first half.
Despite Williams' 7-3 shot margin in the opening frame, the game went to halftime scoreless, and the Jeffs came out of the gates roaring in the second period. A flurry of early Amherst shot attempts, including one each from Putnam and rookie Jenny Rossman (Newton, MA) were turned away by Williams keeper Abi Jackson (Jamaica Plain, MA), before Putnam broke through midway through the 52nd minute. After a throw-in on the Amherst sideline, the ball was played into the box where Putnam sent a shot on the Eph net. Jackson deflected Putnam's first shot, but the junior pounced on the deflection, chipping it past Williams' sophomore netminder to give the Jeffs the all-important first goal. Putnam, who scored the lone goal in the Jeffs' 1-0 win over Eastern Connecticut on Thursday afternoon, was playing only her fourth career game in the midfield.
From there, the hosts dropped back into a defensive set, trying to protect the one-goal lead for the last 38 minutes of regulation. The Ephs came close to breaking through on a couple of occasions, but a pair of big saves from Diamond and stellar play from the backfield kept the visitors off the board, as Putnam's goal would stand up in the 1-0 win.
With the win, Amherst's first over Williams in a five-game stretch dating back to 1997, the Jeffs improve to 7-4-1 on the season, clinching a spot in the seven-team NESCAC tournament as they improve to 4-3-1 in the league. Next up for Amherst is Senior Day, Thursday afternoon's pairing against Mount Holyoke College, before Saturday's regular-season finale (and Little III championship) at Wesleyan University. Williams (9-3, 4-3 NESCAC) hosts Connecticut College in their home regular-season finale on Tuesday afternoon.
