Contact: Justin Long

Saturday's win avenged the 4-3 loss the Lord Jeffs suffered to Skidmore in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. The winner of Sunday's game will travel to Nichols College for the final two rounds of the NCAA Championship. The semifinals are set for Saturday, Nov. 19, with the title game slated for Sunday, Nov. 20.SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Katie McMahon '13 (Denville, N.J.) and Sarah McCarrick '12 (New Canaan, Conn.) each scored a goal to lead the Amherst field hockey team into the NCAA Championship quarterfinal round, as the Lord Jeffs earned a 2-0 victory over Skidmore College Saturday morning. 

Amherst (15-3) will take on Middlebury College (15-3) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Skidmore with a trip to the national semifinals on the line. The Jeffs defeated the Panthers on Sept. 18 by a score of 3-1, but Middlebury won the rematch in the NESCAC semifinals, 2-1 (OT). 

The Lord Jeffs tied the program record for victories in a season, matching the 15 earned by the 1999 squad that advanced to the NCAA title game. Skidmore ends its season at 18-2 after having its 29-game home win streak come to a close. 

The teams battled back and forth for the early part of the opening half before Amherst broke through with the game's first goal at 19:15. Off a penalty corner, McMahon sent an insert to Carly Dudzik '12 (Darien, Conn.), who gave the ball right back to McMahon at the near post for her 17th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. 

The Thoroughbreds' best chance came at the end of the first half on a pair of corners with no time left. Skidmore got three shots on target, but Amherst goalie Rachel Tannenbaum '15 (Berwyn, Pa.) denied two of them and Stephanie Clegg '12 (Woburn, Mass.) came up with a defensive save on the other, preserving the 1-0 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Thoroughbreds came out aggressively but were unable to break through the tough Amherst defense. At the 49:08 mark, the Lord Jeffs made it a 2-0 game on McCarrick's seventh goal of the season. McCarrick took a pass from McMahon on a corner and blasted it from the wing to cap the scoring for the game.

Amherst held a 15-8 edge in shots and a 10-7 advantage in penalty corners. Tannenbaum finished with six saves for her eighth shutout of the season, while Haley McDougall had eight saves in net for Skidmore.