VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SOUTH HADLEY, MA – Buoyed by a pair of scores in the game's opening minutes and sophomore Sarah Duffy's (Fairfield, Conn.) four-goal outburst, the Amherst College women's soccer team cruised to a 7-0 season-opening win over Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. Extending their win streak over the Lyons to 12, the Lord Jeffs now own a 16-6 advantage against their local Five College rival over the last 22 meetings.

Looking to get off to a fast start, an aggressive Amherst squad pushed into the attacking third, winning an early corner less than two minutes after the opening kick-off. Junior Kathryn Nathan (Pembroke, Mass.) would play it short from the far flag to Amanda Brisco '14 (Houston, Texas), who sent a low cross into the box from the right side of the pitch. 

With the ball finding its way to the front of goal, senior Jill Kochanek (Pittsburgh, Pa.) redirected the pass toward the net, where a Lyon defender kicked it out just before it crossed the goal line, but an alert Jess Wall '12 corralled the rebound near the back post, pushing the Lord Jeffs' first tally of 2011 into the left side of the Lyon net. Less than a minute later, Amherst senior co-captain Allison Dorey (San Francisco, Calif.) found Brisco with a nicely placed cross, allowing the standout sophomore forward to head-in the game's second tally at 2:24.

Continuing to control possession over the next 20 minutes of action, Amherst again threatened in the 26th minute, winning a free-kick from just above the 18-yard box on a Mount Holyoke handball. Nathan would step up, sending a hard shot off the left post that ricocheted into the path of a pair of Lord Jeffs, but an offside call negated what would have been Amherst's third marker.

After Mel Stier '15 (Deerfield, Mass.) very nearly notched her first collegiate goal by hitting the left post in the 39th minute, a persistent Amherst attack generated another scoring opportunity, winning its third corner of the night. On the ensuing corner-kick, Kochanek put a low header on net but Lyon junior goalkeeper Emily Shank (Northfield, Mass.) made a diving save to her left to keep the Mount Holyoke deficit at two heading into the intermission. 

Hoping to carry their momentum into the second half, Amherst wasted no time getting on the board, netting their elusive third goal just 10:08 into the stanza when Nathan found a streaking Sarah Duffy (Fairfield, Conn.) with a nice through-ball from the midfield, allowing the charging sophomore to capitalize on a breakaway.

With the game opening up, Stier fed Brisco for another breakaway score at 61:01 before linking up with Duffy just over a minute later. Notching her second goal of the game, Brisco tucked a low shot under the Lyons Taylor Bradley for the squad's fourth goal while Duffy ripped a well-struck ball over the first-year keeper's left shoulder to extend the Lord Jeffs' commanding lead to five. 

Duffy put the wraps on a memorable evening by tallying two more scores at 69:44 and 71:30 to finish the game with a career-best four goals – becoming the first Lord Jeff in at least 10 years to record four markers in a game. Amherst finished with a 7-3 advantage in corners, outshooting Mount Holyoke 32-7.

The Jeffs return to action on Saturday, Sept. 17 when they play host to Bates in their 2011 home and NESCAC opener on Hitchcock Field.