AMHERST, Mass. – Junior midfielder Fiona Jones scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Amherst College women's lacrosse team to a 9-8 win over defending NESCAC champion Tufts University in a Sunday afternoon NESCAC clash on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium.

The Mammoths, ranked 20th in the nation in the latest ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Poll, improved to 7-4 on the season and 2-4 in NESCAC play, while the 6th-ranked Jumbos fell to 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the NESCAC.

The Mammoths are back in action on Wednesday (April 13), hosting Connecticut College for a NESCAC clash at 6 p.m. on Gooding Field.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths struck first with a goal from senior attack Marina Bevacqua. The Jumbos evened the score when senior midfielder Kathryn Delaney scored her ninth goal of the season and Tufts took the lead on a free-position goal from senior midfielder Anna Clarke.

* The two squads traded goals in the final minute of the first quarter. The Mammoths tied the score at 2-2 on a goal from senior captain Becky Kendall with 33 seconds on the clock before Clarke put the Jumbos back on top with 14 seconds to go.

* Jones opened the second quarter with a goal to even the score at 3-3 and junior midfielder Sydney Larsen scored to give the Mammoths a 4-3 halftime lead as Amherst held Tufts scoreless in the second, the first quarter all season in which the Jumbos have failed to score.

* Larsen put the Mammoths up by two with a free-position goal early in the third quarter before junior Caroline Walter and first-year Kate Mastrobuono scored to even the score at 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

* Larsen scored her third goal of the game early in the fourth quarter and Bevacqua gave the Mammoths a two-goal lead with her second of the game on a free-position shot but Tufts again rallied to tie the score on goals from Walter and sophomore attack Lucy Hodge.

* Kendall put the Mammoths back on top with her second goal of the game with 3:48 remaining in the fourth quarter but Tufts again tied the score just 29 seconds later on Walter's third goal of the game to send the contest into overtime.

* Both sides had chances in the overtime period but Jones found the back of the net to win the game for the Mammoths with her second goal of the game at 5:24 into the extra session.



BY THE NUMBERS:

* Sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Stole made 15 saves to earn the win for the Mammoths, the most saves in a game for a Mammoth since 2019, when Talia Land '20 stopped 16 shots against a William Smith team that featured current Amherst assistant coach Ellen Arena.

* Larsen led the Mammoths with three goals, her second hat trick of the season.

* Bevacqua scored a pair of goals and added two assists. She has now scored in all six games she has played this season.

* The Jumbos held a 12-10 edge in draw controls as Clarke and Mammoths junior defender Colleen Mooney each recorded seven draw controls for their respective sides.

* The Mammoths had a 17-15 advantage in ground balls.