Osborn '01 leads way with record-setting 11-point performance

    MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Junior midfielder Kristin Osborn (Morristown, NJ) set an Amherst school record with an 11-point (six-goal, five-assist) performance, as the second-ranked Jeffs cruised to a 21-4 victory over Little Three rival Wesleyan University in NESCAC women's lacrosse action on Saturday. 
Osborn, who was named InsideLacrosse Division III Player of the Week for her four-goal, two-assist effort in the Jeffs' 11-10 win over Middlebury College on April 8, picked up right where she left off against the Panthers, converting a feed from Tri-captain Rachel Bernstein (Maplewood, NJ) 1:50 into the game to put the Jeffs up 1-0. The Cardinals controlled possession for much of the first 10 minutes, but junior Amherst netminder Jess Thaxton (Wayland, MA) made four saves early to keep the hosts off the scoreboard.
    The Jeffs, having early problems with their possession offense, did plenty of damage in transition, with goals from Sarah Scheessele (Pittsburgh, PA) and Katherine Poulin (St. David's, PA)giving the visitors a 3-0 lead. Senior Wesleyan attacker A.J. Smith (Mahopac, NY) got the Cardinals on the scoreboard at the 20:28 mark, but the Jeffs went on a 9-1 run to close the half from there, with Osborn playing a hand in each of the next six goals. Sophomore Anne Close (Limekiln, PA) scored twice during the run, as did Poulin, and Osborn scored four times and assisted on three other goals, giving her five goals and four assists by halftime, which matched the single-game record set by rookie Erin Beaumont (Summit, NJ) earlier this season. The ball crossed into the Amherst defensive end only once during the final 15 minutes of the half, as the Jeffs turned what had once been a 9-8 Wesleyan shot advantage into a 27-10 margin in favor of Amherst at halftime.
    Cardinal junior Julia Chafets (Newton, MA) cut the Amherst lead to 12-3 just 45 seconds after halftime, but the Jeffs went on another 9-1 run, which first-year Mary Kate Allen (Springfield, MA) kicked off at the 28:19 mark with a goal off an Osborn feed, her fourth of the season. Osborn finished her day at the 25:41 mark, converting a Scheeseele feed for her sixth goal of the season--and 99th of her career--before the Jeffs went to the rest of their bench for most of the second half. Allen and Tri-captain Alie Stechenberg (Longmeadow, MA) netted a pair of second-half goals each, and Beaumont, first-years Abby Ouimet (Hatfield, MA) and Laura Schifter (Washington, DC) and Scheessele all got on the scoreboard before the final whistle, as the Jeffs finished with their highest offensive output of the season, a 21-4 final. 
    The win improves the Jeffs, ranked second in the nation in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll, to 7-0, as they reach the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in five games. Osborn's 11-point performance brings her to a NESCAC-best 42 points (30g, 12a) for the season, and the junior can become just the fourth Amherst player ever to surpass the 100-goal mark when the Jeffs head to Wellesley College next Thursday afternoon.
The Cardinals fall to 3-6 for the season, with Tuesday afternoon's date at 17th-ranked Connecticut College next up on the schedule.

Saurday, April 15, 2000
At Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

Scoring:

CUMULATIVE SCORING:

GOALS: 
(A) - Kristin Osborn 6, Katherine Poulin 3, Mary Kate Allen 2, Anne Close 2, Sarah Scheessele 2, Alie Stechenberg 2, Erin Beaumont, Rachel Bernstein, Abby Ouimet, Laura Schifter;
(W) - Broder-Fingert, Chafets, McKnight, Smith;

ASSISTS: 
(A) - Osborn 5, Anne Jamieson 2, Scheessele 2, Robin Ackerman, Allen, Bernstein, Close, Carrie Foster, Meg Martin, Poulin;
(W) - McKnight;

SAVES: 
(A) - Jess Thaxton (30:00), N/A, Brooke Diamond (30:00), N/A;
(W) - Ali Liebowitz (53:50), N/A, Lynn Model (6:10), N/A

SHOTS: 
(A) - 40;
(W) - 16;

#     #     #
4/15/2000