AMHERST, Mass. – First-year midfielder Lauren Friedman scored a career-high five goals to lead the Amherst College women's lacrosse team to a 17-7 win over Western Massachusetts rival Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon at Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium.

The Mammoths, ranked 19th in the nation in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Poll, improved to 5-1 with their fifth straight win. The reigning MASCAC champion Owls fell to 3-4 with their third straight loss.

The Mammoths are back in action on Tuesday (March 29), visiting Keene State at 6 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Junior midfielder Sydney Larsen scored the first goal for the Mammoths just over two minutes into the game and the Mammoths never relinquished the lead. Senior captain Becky Kendall scored just over a minute later to make it 2-0 before junior midfielder Nicole Rinkus scored the first goal for the Owls. Friedman and sophomore attack Campbell Moriarty each scored twice before the first quarter ended before the Owls scored a pair late in the period to give the Mammoths a 6-4 lead after the first.

* Friedman scored the first three goals of the second quarter before sophomore defender Grace Wyckoff scored her first collegiate goal while the Mammoths held the Owls scoreless for a full 15-minute stretch before WSU sophomore attack Natalie DeMaio scored with 1:14 left in the second and the Mammoths took a 10-5 lead to halftime.

* The Mammoths extended their lead in the third quarter as Moriarty and Kendall scored again before senior attack Marina Bevacqua scored her first goal of the season.

* The Mammoths held the Owls to just one goal in each of the final three quarters with Rinkus scoring Westfield State's lone goals in the third and fourth quarters.

* First-year midfielder Rachel Rogers scored her first collegiate goal in the fourth quarter and senior Megan Larmann scored her first of the season.



BY THE NUMBERS:

* In addition to Friedman's five goals, Moriarty and Kendall each scored hat tricks. Friedman has now scored multiple goals in every game of Amherst's five-game winning streak. Kendall has scored in every game this season and now has an 11-game goal-scoring streak after scoring in all five games of the abbreviated 2020 season. Moriarty made it back-to-back games with a hat trick.

* The Mammoths held a 15-13 edge in draw controls. Friedman controlled six draws and Larsen tallied four draw controls. Larsen leads the NESCAC with 32 draw controls this season.

* Senior goalkeeper Caroline Fischer made eight saves to earn the win for the Mammoths.