AMHERST, Mass. – The seventh-ranked Amherst College women's lacrosse team posted a 10-5 victory over NESCAC and Little III rival Wesleyan University in Wednesday evening's conference contest at Pratt Field.

RECORDS
Wesleyan (3-6, 0-5 NESCAC)
Amherst (6-2, 3-2 NESCAC) 

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst netted the game's first goal at the 23:55 mark of the first half when Mia Haughton '16 picked up a loose ball and then fed it to Rachel Passarelli '16 who finished with a score in the lower left corner to make it 1-0.
• At the 21:38 mark the Purple & White added to its lead when Kate Wyeth '17 found the back of the cage unassisted to make it 2-0. Twenty-seven seconds later, Passarelli fired in her second of the game to lift the advantage to 3-0.
• With 2:30 left in the stanza, Haughton found Passarelli who scorched the back of the net for a third time in the frame, before Wesleyan scored a free position goal just over a minute later to make it 4-1.
• With seven seconds left, Coco Kusiak '17 scored on a beautiful dish from Claire Cagnassola '17 to set the score at 5-1 at intermission.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• At the 25:47 mark of the second half, Haughton put the Purple & White ahead, 6-1 when she scored an unassisted marker.
• Three minutes later, Kelly Karczewski '18 was awarded a free position attempt and capitalized on the try with her first goal of the 2016 season to make it 7-1.
• The Cardinals found the back of the net at the 14:58 mark when Breanna Cavanaugh found Julia Black to make it 7-2.
• Moments later, Passarelli answered with her fourth goal of the contest aided by Haughton to lift the score to 8-2 in favor of Amherst. Becca Phillips then narrowed Wesleyan's deficit to five (8-3) with a goal at the 13:16 mark.
• Black added her second tally of the period with 8:21 remaining in the game to pull the Cardinals to cut the gap in half at 8-4.
• With 6:54 left in the stanza, Dakota Foster '18 bounced in a goal on a pass from Julia Crerend '18, before Meredith Smith found the back of the cage seconds later to make it 9-5 with 6:17 on the clock.
• The Purple & White fired its final salvo at the 2:32 mark when Crerend found Foster once more to set the final score at 10-5.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Passarelli led all players with four goals, while Haughton added a goal and three helpers to help spark Amherst to the win.
• Haughton, Kusiak and Cagnassola picked up three ground balls each, while Hanna Krueger '17 registered a game-high five draw controls and five ground balls.
• Between the pipes, Christy Forrest '16 turned away eight shots and imrpoved to 6-2 on the season. 
• Wesleyan was led by Black's two scoring strikes, while she, Rachel Aronow and Meghan Kelly registered a pair of ground balls each in the losing effort.
• Nina Labovich led the Cardinals with six saves in goal.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• In honor of NCAA Division III Week (April 4-10), Wednesday's game marked Faculty Appreciation Day, and also saw Amherst Athletics and Amherst LEADS recognize the 2015-16 Fall and Winter NESCAC All-Sportsmanship award winners.

UP NEXT

• Amherst returns to NESCAC play Saturday, April 9 when it travels to No. 8 Colby College for a 12 p.m. matchup in Waterville, Maine.
• Wesleyan returns to Middletown, Conn. Saturday, April 9 when it hosts Williams College at 12 p.m.