AMHERST, Mass. – The third-seeded Amherst College women's lacrosse team used four goals from Rachel Passarelli '16 and three scores from Mia Haughton '16 to help the Purple & White post a 15-5 victory over sixth-seeded Hamilton College Saturday afternoon at Gooding Field in NESCAC Championship Quarterfinal action.

With the win, Amherst (12-3) advances the NESCAC Semifinals. Hamilton concludes its season 10-6 overall. The Purple & White will take on second-seeded Middlebury College Saturday, May 7 at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst sprinted out of the gate, scoring the first five goals of the game. Julia Crerend '18 scored the first on a free position shot at the 27:59 mark, followed by back-to-back strikes by Passarelli, including one on the man-advantage to give the Purple & White a 3-0 lead with 20:37 left to play in the first half.
• Passarelli then provided an assist on a score by Coco Kusiak '17, before netting her third of the half on a free position attempt to give the hosts a 5-0 cushion.
• Hamilton notched its first goal of the game when Kara Pooley fired in a shot from Margaret Gabriel, but the rally was short-lived as Amherst added two more strikes of its own.
• Claire Cagnassola '17 and Kelly Karczewski '18 each found the back of the net to give the Purple & White a 7-1 lead with 4:43 remaining in the stanza. Cagnassola's marker came on a free position attempt, while Passarelli provided the helper on Karczewski's score.
• Gabriel scored at the 2:35 mark on a feed from Morgan Fletcher to set the score at 7-2 at intermission.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Hamilton continued to chip away at Amherst's lead and at the 25:43 mark, Casey File pulled the Continentals to within four (7-3).
• Haughton answered with the first of her trip of strikes three minutes later, but Fletcher then found the back of the net for Hamilton to make it 8-4 with 20:13 left in the game.
• The Purple & White then struck for six straight goals as Devin O'Connor and Karczewski scored just 10 seconds apart to make it 11-4.
• Kate Wyeth '17 then assisted a goal by Haughton, before Kusiak found the cage with help from O'Connor. Cagnassola then provided an unassisted goal, before Haughton capitalized on the free position 20 seconds later to give Amherst a commanding, 14-4 advantage.
• Gabriel notched her second goal of the game at the 9:34 mark, before Passarelli scored with an assist from Karczewski at the 7:01 mark as the sides played out to the 15-5 final score.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Amherst goalie Christy Forrest '16 was superb between the pipes, collecting 14 saves, including seven in each period. She also picked up a team-best five ground balls and caused a turnover.
• Passarelli and Cagnassola added three ground balls each, while Rowena Schenck '18 logged four draw controls.
• Hamilton was led by Jackie Cuddy who amassed five ground balls and caused two turnovers, while Hannah Withiam added four ground balls in the losing effort.
• In goal, Hannah Rubin made three saves in 30 minutes of action, while Hannah Burrall made two stops in the second half.