Amherst Claims 13-5 Victory Over Wesleyan in Women's Lacrosse First Round
Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Extending its winning streak against Wesleyan to 16 games dating back to 1994, and 24-10 all-time, Amherst broke a 2-2 tie on a strong individual move by sophomore Mary Noonan to slip past two Wesleyan defenders and go on for the go-ahead goal at 17:59 of the first half, igniting a 6-0 run which led to a 13-5 decision in the first round of the 2007 NESCAC Women's Lacrosse Championship.
Wesleyan and Amherst had posted identical 5-4 records in conference play and despite a 10-5 victory over Wesleyan on opening day back in March, Amherst was relegated to the sixth-seed while Wesleyan eared the number-three seed as Wesleyan controlled the tie-breaker in a four-way deadlock with Bowdoin and Colby also involved.
Amherst ignored the lack of home-field advantage and kept Wesleyan winless in NESCAC tournament play at 0-5 with Amherst accounting for three of those losses. Top goal-getter sophomore Amy Craig and junior Maddie Hoeg each tallied four times to pace the Lord Jeff attack. Craig raised her goal-scoring figure to 49 while Hoeg upped hers to 19. Craig also had an assist for a five-point day while Noonan posted two goals along with three assists for five points. Top point-getter senior Alyssa Briody chipped in with three assists, giving her 40 on the year to go along with 19 goals. Noonan and Craig both scored twice during the decisive run which carried into the 21:33 mark of the second half as Amherst opened up the 8-2 lead.
Wesleyan received a pair of goals from freshman Elena Parasco and three assists from senior Cortney Tetrault, who finished as Wesleyan's top scorer this year with 15 goals and 31 assists for 46 points. The Cardinals got as close as 10-5 midway through the second period but Amherst netted the final three goals to win going away.
Amherst, which has a rich tradition of post-season play, moves on to the NESCAC semifinals at Middlebury where it will face Colby while the host Panthers take on Williams. Colby downed Amherst, 11-6, yesterday in the regular-season finale for both teams at Amherst.
