After a tough mid-week loss to Connecticut College on Tuesday, April 7, the Amherst women’s lacrosse team rallied for a heart-stopping senior day win against Colby. The team now stands at 8-4 overall on the season and 4-4 in the NESCAC conference. Just three games remain in the regular season, including two key conference match-ups against Tufts and Trinity.

Junior Rachel Passarelli netted the game-winner with one second remaining in the second overtime period to bring the game to its final score of 9-8.

“I think Saturday’s game was a turning point for us. After a tough loss last Tuesday we came together as a team Wednesday and worked hard to figure out what we needed to do to turn our season around,” senior captain Priscilla Tyler said. Tyler had two goals and an assist on the day after only recently returning from meniscus surgery.

“Saturday we saw how good we actually are, and it felt amazing to finally be able to play together and to our potential. I think the Colby game was the start of an upcoming run for our team,” she added.

The game started off fast for the Jeffs, with the first three goals coming in quick succession at the 26.35, 25:05 and 22.46 marks. The first goal started with a pass from Tyler to tri-captain Megan Mills ’15. Mia Haughton ’16 followed up with the assists on the Cagnassola and Tyler goals.

At 19:26 the Mules put themselves on the board to cut the lead to two, but their efforts were short-lived. Tyler gave the Jeffs back their three-goal lead at the 14:16 mark off a pass from Coco Kusiak ’17 after an interception in the defensive end by tri-captain Heath Cokrell ‘15. Kusiak then broke the deadlock of almost 10 scoreless minutes with a goal off a Mills pass to bring the score to 5-1.

Colby responded three minutes later with a string of three uninterrupted goals over a two-minute period to send the teams into halftime with Amherst up 5-4. The second half started scoreless, with both teams trading attacks. With just under 15 minutes remaining, Colby put away a free position shot to tie the game. Amherst responded within the minute off a Haughton goal assisted by Julia Crerend ’18. Two minutes later, Mills took advantage of a free position shot to bring the score to 7-5.

Colby brought the score within one again at the 11:48 mark before Passarelli scored off another Haughton assist. Colby then put two away within 30 seconds of each other to tie the game 8-8, where it would remain for the last four and a half minutes of regular time.

The first three-minute period of overtime saw no goals, with Colby holding possession of the ball for a good portion of the time. The second overtime period saw both teams going full tilt, but the Jeffs’ hard work set them apart in the end when Passarelli scored off a pass from Sarah Spector ’15 with the clock at 0:01.

“It was awesome to see everyone come together when it really mattered towards the end of the game to play for our seniors,” Passarelli said. The junior finished the game with two goals, as did Mills, while Haughton added one goal and three assists.

Christy Forrest ’16 had eight saves, while Cagnassola lead the team with four ground balls. The result moved both teams to 4-4 in conference play.

Amherst returns to the field to host Mount Holyoke on Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. for a non-conference matchup.