AMHERST, MA. – A second quarter rally and defensive gem in the second half paced No. 8 Amherst women's lacrosse team took the field for their NCAA Tournament opener on Sunday, May 10. After receiving a bye in the First Round of the tournament, the Mammoths took on No. 24 Stevens on Pratt Field. The Ducks earned their spot with an 18-6 win over Saint Joseph's (Me.) in Saturday's First Round game. After going down by three at the end of the first quarter, the Mammoths went on a 5-1 run in the second frame and allowed just two goals in the final two quarters to win 11-8.
With the win, Amherst improves to 13-4 overall while the Ducks finish their season with a 16-4 record. The Mammoths advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2019, and will travel to Middlebury to take on TCNJ next weekend. The start time for the game between Amherst and the Lions is still to be determined.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* Stevens were the first to put the ball away, putting two in the back of the cage early. That was when the Mammoths responded, getting their first of the day on a
Bridget Finley free position goal. But the Ducks netted two more to put Amherst in a 4-1 hole going into the second quarter.
* The Mammoths narrowed the deficit to 4-2 less than two minutes into the frame, with
Mia Raven taking her defender down the left side and finding Finley cutting centrally, who scored at the doorstep. Stevens again responded with two goals of their own to prevent the Mammoths from getting closer for the moment.
* Amherst went on a 4-0 run to close the half and go into the break tied 6-6. Petersen the Amherst player to spark the run, putting her foot in the ground to blow by her defender and score to reduce the margin to three goals. The Mammoths' controlled the tempo from there, snagging the ensuing draw and earning a free position that
Clara Sosa converted. Petersen got her second of the day minutes later, as Raven blew by her first defender and found the senior on the left side of the crease; she slid to her right and scored to make it 6-5. The game-tier came by way of
Bridget Darcy, who took a Raven pass to goal uncontested and put her chance away.
* With the game essentially restarting at halftime and the score knotted at 6-6, the Ducks netted for the first time since the beginning of the second quarter to retake the advantage. Petersen again had something to say about that, scoring what was almost a carbon copy of her first goal to make it 7-apiece. Amherst got their first lead of the day on the next offensive possession, winning the draw and finding
Kate Becker at the top of the 12. She dodged past her defender and hit Darcy for a wide-open goal right at the goalmouth.
* That seemed to light a fire under the Mammoths, as an
Annie McCarthy caused turnover on their next defensive possession sprung their attack in transition. Becker received the ball on the rush and outran her defender on the way toward goal. The senior finished the one-on-one to put her team up two. That was the last goal of the third, and the teams entered the fourth with Amherst leading 9-7.
* The teams battled to a defensive stalemate for just about half the quarter until Stevens pulled within one with 7:37 to go. That would be as close as they would get, though, as Amherst pulled away in the final part of the quarter.
* A tally from Finley and Sosa on the woman up sealed an 11-8 victory.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst outscored Stevens 9-4 in the final three quarters to rally from their earlier deficit.
* Finley and Petersen each recorded a hat trick in the win.
* Samoska made two stops against the Ducks.
