AMHERST, MA – The 16th-ranked Amherst College field hockey team played host to local foe Springfield College this evening at Gooding Field in non-conference action. Amherst improved to 4-0 at home this season with a 5-2 win over the Pride, while also snapping a five-year losing streak against Springfield.

Amherst opened the scoring early in the game, as senior tri-captain Haley Douds (South Orange, NJ) punched home a goal just 2:08 into the match. Classmate and fellow tri-captain Molly Malloy (Stamford, CT) assisted on the goal during a scramble in front of the Springfield goal.

Just over six minutes later, Amherst took a 2-0 lead when sophomore defender Sarah McCarrick (New Canaan, CT) lifted a penalty stroke off the crossbar. The next goal of the game came nearly 20 minutes later, as Springfield cut into the Lord Jeff lead off a penalty corner. Becca Gamble found Meagan Dobson at the top of the circle, who pushed the ball to Karah Heald for a long drive past Amherst goalie Emily Vitale (Cheshire, CT).

Just three minutes before halftime, Amherst sophomore Carly Dudzik (Darien, CT) scored off another Malloy assist to put the Jeffs up 3-1. The Lord Jeffs increased their lead to 5-1 on goals from first-year Katie McMahon (Denville, NJ) and Dudzik once again. Both scores came during nice penalty corner scores with double-assists. 

Springfield scored the night's final goal just over two and a half minutes before the final whistle, as Dobson found Kaila Dee in traffic on a broken corner play. 

For the game, Amherst out-shot Springfield 15-7, and won the corner battle 13-10. Vitale finished the night with just one save, while Alison McCarthy and Anna Calano combined for seven saves in goal for Springfield. 

With the result, Amherst improves to 4-1, while Springfield falls to 3-3 overall. Amherst will play travel this weekend to face NESCAC foe Connecticut College on Saturday at 12 p.m.