AMHERST, Mass. – Battling two top-10 opponents over the weekend, the No. 6 Amherst College field hockey team suffered their first losses of the season, falling to No. 9 Williams College, 3-2, and No. 1 Middlebury College, 3-1, in tightly contested matchups.

With the setbacks, Amherst moves to 7-2 on the season and to 3-2 in conference play. The Mammoths return to action on Saturday, October 9 when they travel to Little III rival Wesleyan for an 11:00am NESCAC bout.

GAME ONE: Amherst 2, Williams 3

• First on the board after a scoreless first period, Liz Welch gave Williams a 1-0 lead following a corner in the 17th minute. Getting her stick on the ball in a scrum after several blocked shots, Welch ripped a shot off a defender and over the goal line.
• Doubling the score at the 23:05 mark, Catherine Torres made it a 2-0 game in favor of the visitors following three dishes across the top of the arc after a corner insertion pass. Winding up at on the right side, Torres blasted a shot into the bottom left corner.
• Breaking through 1:59 into the third period, first-year Abbey Kays capitalized on an Ephs turnover inside the circle and slipped a shot past the Williams' netminder.
• Responding 22 seconds later, Williams tallied their third goal of the game off a penalty corner as Shea van den Broek sent a low shot from the top right of the arc into the opposite corner.
• Getting back into striking distance with time winding down, a highlight reel, individual effort play by Sam Maynard '25 saw the first-year go end-to-end before juking past three Ephs defenders and sending a shot into the nylon with 1:09 remaining in regulation, but the Mammoths were unable to net the equalizer despite two corner opportunities in the final minute as Williams hung on for the 3-2 win.
• Junior Kaitlin Broda (7-1) took the loss in goal for Amherst, making four stops in 36:14, while Sara Nidus '24 went untested in 23:46 in relief. Carson Stephenson earned the win for the Ephs registering two stops in the first half, while Gates Tenerowicz made one save in the final 30 minutes.
• The Mammoths owned the advantage in shots (16-14) and corner opportunities (8-6), while Williams held the edge in shots on target (8-5).

GAME TWO: Amherst 1, Middlebury 3

• Jumping out to a 2-0 lead, the Panthers struck twice in the opening 12 minutes, as Grace Murphy collected a corner insertion pass at the top of the arc and ripped a shot over the goal line at the 3:39 mark before Audrey Lazar redirected a pass from Caroline Segal to the far post for a one-touch score in the 11th minute.
• Adding another score to the board after halftime, Audrey Lazar made the most of a failed clear as she powered a dish from Segal past the Amherst netminder at the 39:10 mark.
• Converting on a penalty stroke with 11:35 remaining in regulation, first-year Kat Mason set the score at 3-1.
• Amherst controlled momentum in the final 10 minutes as they looked to get back within one, forcing Grace Harlan to make two of her three saves on the game and earning five penalty corners, but the visitors were unable to turn the opportunities into scores as Middlebury collected the 3-1 victory.
• Broda (7-2) took the loss for Amherst, registering six saves, while Harlan earned the win in frame for the Panthers, making three stops.
• The Panthers owned a slight advantage in shots (19-11) and shots on target (9-4), while the Mammoths held a 13-10 edge in penalty corner opportunities.