MIDDLETOWN, CT. – A
Kate Becker game-winner led the No. 12-ranked Amherst College women's lacrosse team to a thrilling triple-overtime victory on Wednesday, April 2. Returning to NESCAC play for the first time in 10 days, the Mammoths traveled to Middletown to take on Little Three rival #6 Wesleyan in a battle of top-15 squads. In an action-packed game that lived up to the hype, the Mammoths sunk the Cardinals 9-8 in sudden-victory fashion.
With the win, the Mammoths improve to 7-2 this season and extend their win-streak to five games, while Wesleyan falls to 6-3. Amherst will return home for a grudge match with bitter rival Williams on Saturday, April 5 on Gooding Field. The game against the Ephs, which also serves as the team's Alumnae Day, will begin at 1 p.m.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Wesleyan were the first to score, netting just under two minutes into the contest, but the Mammoths responded by way of
Sydney Kang, who cut down the bottom of the 8-meter arc and finished a Becker feed from point-blank range. Cardinals scored three more times to seemingly take a 4-1 lead into the second, but
Mia Raven netted with one second to go in the quarter to make it a two-goal deficit heading into frame number two.
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Bridget Finley potted her first of the game off a free position shot to get the second quarter started and narrow the margin to one just 90 seconds in. A defense stalemate ensued, with neither team able to find a goal until 4:51 remained, when Cardinals put one away to restore their two-goal lead at 5-3.
* An unlucky bounce after an initial free-position save by netminder
Lily Samoska put the Mammoths back down three with just under five minutes to go. That deficit looked like it might balloon to four with the clock ticking down, but a big save from Samoska with eight seconds left kept the score at 6-3 heading into the half.
* The Mammoths again started the quarter on the right foot with an
Emma Crotty free-position goal bringing them back within two. Wesleyan netted with 5:10 remaining in the third to go up 7-4, but that is when Amherst turned on the gas.
Emily Petersen put one away off another Becker assist, and a Raven free-position goal a minute and a half later made it 7-6 Cardinals heading into a decisive final quarter.
* Wesleyan started the quarter with a goal, and that would be the only tally from either team until Finley scored an unreal shot clock buzzer-beating goal: with just three seconds left on the shot clock and the ball stopped at X after a foul, Becker made a perfect pass to Finley, who quick-sticked the ball into the cage to narrow the Cardinal lead to one with 2:21 left.
* The Mammoths made the defensive stand that they needed and cleared the ball up the field. With 20 seconds to play, they worked the ball around and got the ball to their leading scorer, Petersen, who was fouled with one second left on the clock. With everything riding on that free-position opportunity, the Mammoths' captain cradled once and ripped a side-armed shot into the net to send the game to overtime.
* The teams played two six-minute sudden-victory overtime periods, and though both teams had prime opportunities to score neither found the game-winner. With the game now in a third extra frame, it was Becker, who had played provider all game, that became the hero. After a
Sofia Guttmann free-position shot was saved, the ball bounced out of the 8-meter, where it was picked up by Raven. The Amherst midfielder quickly sped past her defender and picked out a wide-open Becker sprinting from X. Becker seized her moment, netting with 18 seconds left to give the Mammoths a 9-8 overtime victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* In addition to her OT game winner, Becker's three assist performance put her at a team-leading 16 in 2025 and marks her second consecutive, and third overall, three-assist game this season.
* Defensively,
Annie Rosenman paced the Mammoths with four ground balls, and
Olivia Summers led the team with four caused turnovers.
* Samoska made eight saves on the day, including six during the overtime periods.
