AMHERST, MA -- A goal with 2.1 seconds left on the game clock sent the No. 11th-ranked Amherst College field hockey team to its second consecutive heartbreaking 2-1 defeat Wednesday night on Hill Field, this time at the hands -- and sticks -- of No. 23-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Mammoths slipped to 2-3 on the season heading into a NESCAC doubleheader this weekend. Amherst will host Bates Saturday at 11 a.m., then collide with Colby Sunday at 12 p.m. M.I.T. improved to 4-3 overall with the victory.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Amherst fell behind 1-0 with 3:36 left in the first quarter. Ingrid Tomovski fired a shot from the top of the circle on a penalty corner and her shot found the lower left corner of the goal.
* Just 1:31 later, a great individual effort by Mammoth forward
Sam Maynard tied the score. She received a pass from
Abbey Kays near the left sideline and dribble deep into the circle, cutting to her right and splitting two Engineer defenders as she approached the goal and sliding a shot between the legs of MIT goalkeeper Maeve Zimmer,
* Neither team would score again until 2.1 seconds remained in the contest, but Amherst had plenty of opportunities. Just moments after Maynard's goal tied the score, a crisp pass from
Kat Mason to
Muffie Mazambani in the circle et up one of those chances. Mazambani slid a pass that sent
Paige DiBiase in on Zimmer 1 v. 1, but Zimmer stuck out her right pad to deflect the shot and keep the game tied.
* Then, in the span of 91 seconds of the second quarter, Zimmer came up with six straight saves to keep the game tied. A steal by Maynard and a nice pass in front set up Mazambani with the first of those six shots, but her shot high was blocked by Zimmer.. Off a penalty corner, Kays took a shot that was blocked by Zimmer, who then turned away Maynard's shot off the rebound. Mazambani then had back-to-back shots stopped by Zimmer.
* The Mammoths final chances came late in the fourth. A great pass into the circle off a corner had Maynard on the doorstep, but Zimmer turned her away. Then Maynard dribbled into the circle and fired a backhand that Zimmer blocked up high.
* With just under 10 seconds left, Tomovski gained possession and dribbled into the right side of the Amherst circle. She managed to turn and direct a pass toward Paige Forester in the center. The pass was nearly blocked by a Mammoth player, but the ball continued on through to Forester, who tapped a shot high into the air that floated over a pair of Mammoth defenders and goalkeeper
Sara Nidus into the goal with 2.1 seconds remaining to give M.I.T. the victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst doubled M.I.T. up in shots, 14-7. The Mammoths had 7 penalty corners to the Engineers four.
* Zimmer finished with 11 saves for the visitors, while Nidus made 2 for the Mammoths.
* The win for M.I.T., was its first in 15 tries against the Mammoths, dating back to 1995.
