The No. 19 Amherst College women’s soccer team went 1-1 in two games last weekend against NESCAC competition at Hitchcock Field. The Jeffs fell in a hard-fought, 1-0 loss to Tufts University on Saturday before completing a 3-0 rout of Connecticut College on Sunday. The results bring their record to 5-2-0 (2-2-0 NESCAC) on the season.
Goalkeeper Holly Burwick ’16 registered eight saves in a high-tempo matchup against Tufts that featured a combined 24 shots, but Amherst fell to their second loss of the season.
Tufts started brightly, pressuring the Amherst back line often and forcing Burwick into three saves within the first 12 minutes. In the 28th minute, the Jumbos took the lead when Jess Capone jumped on a loose ball in the Amherst box and fired a shot past Burwick into the bottom right corner.
Amherst responded with consistent pressure after the goal, and first-year Maeve McNamara nearly tied the game with four minutes until the half. McNamara fired a shot from the right side of the field, but Tufts goalkeeper Emily Bowers made an athletic save, tipping the ball over the crossbar.
Searching for an equalizer, the Jeffs opened up the game in the second half. In the final 10 minutes, Amherst put consistent offensive pressure on the Jumbos, but the purple and white could not create the goal they needed.
On Sunday, Emily Hester ’17 led the Jeffs to their 3-0 victory over Conn. College, scoring two goals on either side of the half.
Amherst jumped out to an early lead in the third minute, when Hester beat her defender to a cross from McNamara. With the ball at an awkward height, the junior used her body to direct the ball past the Camels’ goalkeeper.
Down 1-0, Conn. College dictated play for the rest of the first half. The visitors’ best chance to equalize came from a corner kick in the 23rd minute, when Camels forward Mackenzie Kingston collected the ball in the Jeffs’ box and fired a shot towards Burwick’s goal. The Amherst keeper, however, proved up to the task with a jumping save as two Camels closed in for the rebound.
In the 48th minute, Hester netted again for her fourth goal of the season when she nodded a corner kick from Sarah Zuckerman ’17 past the Conn. College goalkeeper. McNamara then added another, her first of the season, in the 59th minute. Positioned at the top of the box, the first-year connected on a bouncing corner kick from Zuckerman and fired it just out of the keeper’s reach.
The Jeffs return to action with a match at NESCAC rivals Hamilton on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 11 a.m. Amherst then faces non-conference foes Keene State on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.
“We came out really strong for the first time and did the little things right, connecting all over the field,” Burwick said. “We haven’t consistently been able to do that, especially in the first half. If we play a full 90, there is no doubt in my mind that we can beat any team in the country.”
