Box Score AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College used first half goals from Hannah Guzzi '18 and Emily Hester '17 to highlight a 2-0 victory over No. 7 Williams College in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC women's soccer game at Hitchcock Field.
With the win, Amherst improves to 4-1-0 on the season, 2-1-0 in NESCAC play, while Williams now stands at 4-1-0 overall, 2-1-0 in league action.
In a hard-fought contest, Amherst jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when senior Mel Stier delivered a sensational cross to Guzzi who continued to find the scoring touch as she knocked the feed into the back of the net to give the Jeffs a 1-0 lead just 2:19 into the game.
Williams responded with offensive pressure of its own as Kristi Kirshe and Danielle Sim both tested the Amherst keeper twice in the next 28 minutes. Jeffs' junior goalkeeper Holly Burwick was equal to the task as she made seven of her 10 saves in the first period.
The Purple & White scored again in the 32nd minute of play when Stier again sent a dangerous ball into the box and this time Hester was there with a sliding effort to put the ball past Ephs' net-minder Hannah Van Wetter to set the score at 2-0.
Following intermission, Williams continued to provide some offensive threat, but the Jeffs' defense stood firm as Burwick turned Audrey Thomas away twice with less than 20 minutes to play en route to securing her third clean sheet of the season.
Amherst had its own scoring chances, including a pair of efforts on goal from Quinn Phillips '17 and another from Megan Kim '16, but Van Wetter kept the Jeffs off the board in the second stanza.
Amherst held a 10-6 advantage in shots on target for the game, while the Ephs held a 9-3 edge in corner kicks.
Amherst returns to action on Sunday, Sept.21 when it hosts Lasell College in non-conference action at 2 p.m. at Hitchcock Field.
