AMHERST, Mass. - A pair of goals from
Jessica Lomo highlighted a three-goal first half for the No. 22-ranked Amherst College women's soccer team, but Connecticut College made a furious second-half comeback to stun the Mammoths, 4-3, on Saturday, Sept. 5, at Hitchcock Field.
After falling behind midway through the opening half, the Mammoths responded quickly, scoring three goals in a span of less than seven minutes to take a commanding 3-1 advantage into halftime. The Camels flipped the script after the break, however, scoring three unanswered goals to complete the comeback.
With the loss, the Mammoths open the season at 0-1-0, while Connecticut College's record is 1-0-0. Amherst returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 8, traveling to Worcester for a matchup with WPI.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
- Connecticut College broke the deadlock in the 21st minute. Danica Zicha delivered a dangerous cross into the box, where Morgan Lovell redirected the ball into the bottom-left corner to give the Camels an early 1-0 advantage.
- Amherst wasted little time finding an answer. Just 78 seconds later, Lomo collected the ball near the right edge of the 18-yard box and produced a spectacular strike, using the outside of her right foot to send the ball soaring into the upper corner and level the contest at 1-1.
- The Mammoths seized their first lead in the 28th minute. Emma Darling made a darting run into the Connecticut College penalty area before cutting the ball back to Maya Siegel, who calmly slotted her finish into the bottom-left corner to put Amherst ahead, 2-1.
- Less than a minute later, Amherst struck again. Sophie Chen played a perfectly weighted through ball to Jessica Lomo, who spotted the goalkeeper off her line and dinked a long-range effort over her from nearly 30 yards out. Lomo's second goal of the afternoon sent the Mammoths into halftime holding a 3-1 advantage.
- Connecticut College came out firing after the break and cut into the deficit in the 62nd minute. Zicha raced onto a long ball played from deep inside the Camels' half, broke behind the Amherst defense and poked her finish past the goalkeeper to make it 3-2.
- The Camels needed just 25 seconds to find the equalizer. Connecticut College quickly regained possession following the kickoff and with some sharp combination got a cross into the box, where Lovell pounced on the loose ball and slotted it home for her second goal of the afternoon, leveling the score at 3-3.
- Connecticut College completed the comeback in the 74th minute. After winning possession deep in Amherst territory, Juliana Grontzos found Blessing Kieh near the edge of the box. Kieh cut inside before curling a beautiful effort into the top-right corner to give the Camels a 4-3 lead that would hold through the final whistle.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- Lomo led the Mammoths' attack with two goals on two shots, while Siegel accounted for Amherst's other tally. Darling and Chen each recorded an assist.
- Lovell paced Connecticut College with two goals, while Zicha finished with a goal and an assist.
- The Camels held a 21-13 advantage in total shots and an 11-7 edge in shots on goal.
- Amherst goalkeeper Molly Davidson recorded six saves in 77 minutes of action, while Corina Bellermann added one save over the final 12 minutes.
