AMHERST, Mass. – Three different Purple & White players found the back of the net as the No. 13 Amherst College field hockey team posted a 3-0 shutout win over Bates College Sunday afternoon on Gooding Field.

With the win, Amherst improves to 7-2 on the season and 3-2 in NESCAC play, while Bates falls to 4-5 overall (2-5 NESCAC). Amherst returns to action on Oct. 5 when they travel to Connecticut College for a 7 p.m. conference tilt, while the Bobcats return home for a 7 p.m. matchup with Endicott College on Oct. 5.

Amherst nearly took the lead with 12:53 on the clock in the first half as Caroline Feeley '18 rifled a shot from inside the circle, but the attempt sailed just inches wide of the right post.

The Bobcats logged a solid offensive opportunity at the 29:21 mark as Taylor Lough drove a shot from point-blank range on goal, however Emilie Flamme '20 came up with the pad save.

Mary Grace Cronin '18 tallied the game-winner, and her third goal of the season, to give Amherst a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute. Collecting a corner insert pass, Kendall Codey '19 ripped a shot on net. Bobcat netminder Adelae Durand was up to the task and made the initial pad save, but Cronin cleaned up the rebound and sent it over the goal line.

Jessie Moriarty came close to evening the score with 4:18 remaining in the first half as she found open space near the penalty stroke mark but her shot went go wide right.

Bates picked up the offensive pressure in the opening minutes of the second half, highlighted by a Lough sending a bouncing shot from the right side past the Amherst netminder, however Codey came up with the defensive save to preserve the one goal lead.

The Purple & White doubled their lead 10 minutes after halftime, with Shannon Tierney '18 sending a pass from the top of the circle to Mary Margaret Stoll '17 on the left side of the goal. Powering a shot towards net, senior Sara Culhane deflected the attempt into the bottom left corner of the goal at the 44:32 mark.

An athletic save by Durand with 18:32 to play kept it a two-goal game, as she slid from left to right to make a save on Cronin's shot into a seemingly open goal.

Feeley made it a 3-0 contest with 1:10 remaining in the matchup. Collecting a pass from Culhane, Feeley blasted a shot from the top right of the circle into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Bobcats attempted to avoid the shutout with three seconds to play, with Lough beating a defender and sending a shot on net, but Flamme was up to the task and made a diving save.

GAME NOTES

• Flamme (2-0) registered three saves in goal for the Purple & White in the winning effort, while Adelae Durand (2-3) made seven saves in the loss.
• Amherst owned a decisive edge in shots and penalty corners, 17-6 and 10-2, including a 10-1 shot differential in the first half.
• Culhane led the game with five shots on frame, while Feeley and Cronin each took four shots and put two shots on target for Amherst.
• Taylor Lough put three shots on goal to lead the Bobcats, while Jessie Moriarty took two shots in the outing.