Women's Soccer Sweeps Weekend Matches
Issue   |   Fri, 10/18/2013 - 00:48

The Amherst women’s soccer team is continuing to find a rhythm, picking up three more wins in the past few days to run their winning streak to six games. The streak came on the heels of the Jeffs’ defeat at the hands of Tufts, their only loss of the year, and has included five road victories.

Amherst secured the only home victory of the streak last Tuesday, when they beat Eastern Conn. State 4-1. The Jeffs dominated the game, holding an overwhelming 30-6 advantage in shots. Megan Kim ’16 scored twice, and Sarah Duffy ’14 and Hannah Cooper ’14 added tallies.

After missing a chance of her own in the opening minutes, Maggie Belnap ’15 helped Amherst take an early lead when she assisted on Kim’s first goal. In the 14th minute, Belnap played a ball across the goal to the far post, where Kim was waiting to hit it into the top of the net. Just four minutes later, a great pass from Kate Sisk ’14 put Duffy in a one-on-one situation with Chelsea Santos, the Eastern Conn. goalkeeper. Duffy managed to dribble around Santos and finish easily in the open net.

The Jeffs added their third goal when a Chloe McKenzie ’14 cross bounced across the box to Hannah Cooper, who struck a powerful volley past Santos. Kim closed the scoring for Amherst at the 74:44 mark when she volleyed Cooper’s cross into the net from about ten yards out. Eastern Conn. picked up a consolation in the dying minutes when a Blair Church corner bounced off an Amherst player and in for an own goal.

On Saturday the Jeffs visited Colby for a NESCAC battle. The Mules carried a 1-4 conference record into the contest, but they had won their last three, including a win over NESCAC foe Wesleyan. Amherst brought Colby’s streak to an end and extended their own to five games with a 3-1 win. The visitors struck first when Sisk converted a steal into an unassisted goal in the ninth minute. Despite controlling the game and firing 13 other shots in the first half, the Jeffs were unable to extend their lead before the break.

Seven minutes into the second half, however, Belnap benefitted from some nifty passing between Cooper and Ariana Twomey ’15 when she knocked Cooper’s pass into the net from close range. Colby responded quickly, with a 56th minute goal from Annie Papadellis, but Belnap closed the flurry of goals, scoring just three minutes later on a Duffy assist.

The Jeffs’ Tuesday opponent, Keene State, owned an 11-2 overall record before the game, but Amherst used goals from three different players to dispatch the Owls 3-1. Kim opened the scoring quickly, scoring her team-leading eighth goal in the ninth minute. After a McKenzie goal at 40:58, Amherst looked like they would make it to the half with a comfortable lead, but Alex Haley cut the deficit in half in the 45th minute .

Cooper’s 49th minute goal returned Amherst to a safe lead. The last 40 minutes passed mostly without incident, although the Jeffs’ Twomey and the Owls’ Kelsie Bailey both picked up yellow cards in the last 15 minutes.

With the wins, the Amherst moved to 8-1-2 overall and 4-1-2 in the NESCAC, which puts them in third place. The Jeffs also entered this week’s Division III rankings at the 23rd spot, and will look to continue their streak against Wesleyan this Saturday.