MEDFORD, MA – The 8th-seeded Amherst College women's lacrosse team traveled to take on top-seed and 7th-ranked Tufts University this afternoon, in the quarterfinal round of the 2009 NESCAC Championship Tournament. The Lord Jeffs held a 5-4 halftime lead, but were out-scored 10-6 in the second half to end the season with a 14-11 loss. Amherst falls to 6-8 on the year, while Tufts improved to 14-1. 

The two teams traded a pair of scores to start the game deadlocked at 2-2. The game's first goal went to Jenna Abelli with 23:05 to play in the first half. Amherst senior Amy Craig (Denver, CO) responded with 20:47 to play, finishing off an assist from Kelley Trapp (Monterey, CA). Abelli put the Jumbos back ahead 2-1 a few minutes later, before Amherst's Hannah Walker (Greenwich, CT) equalized once again with 13:30 to play.

Neither team scored for nearly five minutes, before Allie Horwitz (Woodbridge, CT) and Craig scored a pair of goals just 78 seconds apart to open up a 4-2 lead for Amherst. The Jumbos responded with a pair of goals from Amanda Roberts and Abelli, tying the game 4-4 with just three minutes to play in the first half.

With 2:12 to play in the first, Amherst senior Mary Noonan (W. Roxbury, MA) finished off a helper from Craig to put the Jeffs up 5-4 heading into halftime. At the break, Amherst was holding a 13-8 edge in shots and was winning the ground ball battle 8-5. 

Tufts started the second half on fire, scoring a trio of goals in just over five minutes. Amanda Roberts started the scoring spurt, before assisting to Lara Kozin to take the lead back at 6-5. With 24:37 to play in the second half, Abelli scored her fourth of the game on a free-position shot after drawing a foul from Amherst's Kathleen Scheld (Yorktown Heights, NY). 

The Tufts lead grew to 9-5, before Amherst scored answered with 13:31 to play on another Craig goal. Horwitz scored just 15 seconds later on a free-position shot, closing the gap to 9-7. Courtney Thomas and Roberts scored for Tufts with 11:04 to play, and then just 15 seconds later to re-gain a four-goal lead at 11-7. 

Amherst put in three of the next four goals, with Craig scoring and assisting to Mary Noonan and Tyler Tory-Murphy (Sea Cliff, NY) to close the gap to 12-10. That was as close as the Lord Jeffs would get though, as Abelli and Roberts surrounded another Craig score to give Tufts a 14-11 win.

Craig led all players with five goals and three assist for eight points in the final game of her career. Fellow quad-captain Noonan had a pair of goals in the loss, while rookie Horwitz chipped in with a pair of scores. Roberts and Abelli provided the offense for Tufts, combining for 11 goals and an assist in the win.

Craig finished her career with 209 points on 184 goals and 25 assists, while Noonan went over the 100 goal mark this afternoon to finish with 148 points on 101 goals and 47 assists. Classmates Caki Guinee (Owings Mills, MD) and Catherine Calvert (Lawrenceville, NJ) will graduate alongside Craig and Noonan this spring, and will be sorely missed next season.