Contact: Justin Long
WATERVILLE, Maine – The Amherst College field hockey team's 4-1 win over Colby Saturday afternoon at Bill Alfond Field improved the eighth-ranked Lord Jeffs to 9-1 (6-1 NESCAC) and marked the 100th career victory for head coach Carol Knerr.
The Lord Jeffs bumped their win streak to five games, while the Mules drop to 2-8 (0-7 NESCAC). This year's Amherst team joins the ranks of the 1996, 1999 and 2000 Lord Jeff squads, each of which got off to a 9-1 start.
Knerr has posted a 100-64 record during her 11 seasons at Amherst. She has helped the Lord Jeffs increase their single-season winning percentage in each of the past five years and is on pace to do so again in 2011. Amherst is 33-10 in the past three years and has become one of the best programs in Division III, currently ranking eighth in the NFHCA Coaches Poll and holding on to second place in the ultracompetitive NESCAC standings.
All five of Saturday's goals came in the first 40 minutes, as Amherst held a 3-1 halftime lead before Sarah McCarrick '12 (New Canaan, Conn.) added an insurance tally at 39:53. Katie McMahon '13 (Denville, N.J.) scored twice and had an assist for the Lord Jeffs, while Chrissy Cantore '12 (Hershey, Pa.) and McCarrick each had a goal and an assist.
Cantore opened the scoring 6:40 into the contest, with McCarrick and Krista Zsitvay '14 (New Vernon, N.J.) recording assists on the play. The Mules would need only 65 seconds to tie things up, as Caitlyn Lancaster finished off a pass from Caroline Chessare at 7:45.
McMahon netted her 10th and 11th goals of the season at 11:08 and 19:33 to give Amherst a 3-1 lead heading into halftime, with the junior forward scoring on her only two shots of the game. Cantore and Ellie Andersen '15 (Phoenixville, Pa.) were credited with assists on McMahon's goals.
The Jeffs would get their final goal on a penalty corner, with McMahon firing a pass to Carly Dudzik '12 (Darien, Conn.), who set up McCarrick for the insurance marker early in the second half.
Rachel Tannenbaum '15 (Berwyn, Pa.) stopped five shots for Amherst, while Michelle Burt made 11 saves for Colby. The Jeffs had a 26-11 shot advantage and a 19-5 edge in penalty corners.
Tomorrow's matchup between eighth-ranked Amherst and third-ranked Bowdoin (10-0, 7-0 NESCAC) will feature a webcast and live statistics, with the winner moving into the driver's seat for the conference's top seed. Bowdoin defeated Amherst in the semifinals of last year's NESCAC Championship (3-2, OT) en route to the program's third NCAA title of the past four years.
