The Amherst women’s lacrosse team finished out the past two weeks with a 3-1 record. Claire Cagnassola ’17 led the team over break, scoring six goals and four assists while garnering NESCAC player of the week honors for the week of March 7.
The purple and white’s first victory came during a midweek away game against the Keene State Owls on Wednesday, March 8. Amherst dominated the host team for the entirety of the game for a 16-3 win.

At the end of the first half, the purple and white already held an 11-1 lead over Keene State. Amherst continued to control the remaining 30 minutes and tacked on another five goals before the final buzzer.

The Owls only managed to add two more goals before the last seconds ticked off the clock, giving Amherst a lopsided victory.

Senior captains Cagnassola and Kate Wyeth paced the purple and white’s offense, netting three goals each. Cagnassola also led the team in assists with three. On the defensive end, Kat Krieg ’20 claimed two ground balls and Rowena Schenck ’18 forced two turnovers. Goalies Kyra Gardner ’18 and Talia Land ’20 made a total of three saves.

The purple and white faced Bates next. Originally scheduled for Saturday, March 11, the game was moved up a day to avoid playing in sub-zero temperatures. Although Friday did not prove to be much warmer, the Amherst women persevered and claimed another win with only one day of rest after the Keene State game.

An early goal from Bates sophomore Sydney Howard put the Bobcats on the board first. Amherst responded with four unanswered goals. The Bobcats then rallied with their own series of four consecutive goals, making the score 5-4 with 12:15 left in the first half.
Goals from juniors Kelly Karczewski, Mary Grace Cronin and Julia Crerend helped the purple and white regain their lead going into halftime. Amherst came out strong in the second half, firing four goals past Bates’ goalie.

With 9:51 left in the game, the purple and white held an 11-6 advantage over the visiting team. The Bobcats had an offensive surge in the final minutes of the game, tallying three more goals, but it was too late and Amherst came away with the victory.
Crerend put on an impressive offensive performance, notching four goals. Crerend, Katherine Malone ’20, Coco Kusiak ’17, Annie Cohen ’19, Hanna Krueger ’17 and Cagnassola all contributed one helper in the winning effort. Schenck anchored the defense with five won ground balls and three caused turnovers.

The purple and white returned to action on Friday, taking on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The low-scoring game was a hard-fought battle on both sides. After 30 minutes of the play, the scoreboard only read 2-2.

The purple and white got the jump on the Athenas in the second half, taking a one-goal lead courtesy of Crerend, who continued her dominant start to the season.

CMS fired back with three straight goals to establish the largest lead of the game. Inside the last ten minutes of the game, it looked like Amherst might be able to send the game into overtime, with the purple and white piling the pressure on the Athenas’ goal. However, despite another Crerend goal at the 8:41 mark, the purple and white were not able to break the CMS defense for the tying goal, giving the Athenas the 5-4 win.

Amherst bounced back from the tough loss with a 9-4 win over local rival Springfield College. The purple and white started the game hot, with Karczewski scoring less than two minutes into the game.

Amherst continued its dominance with four more goals in the first half. Karczewski added her second of the game and Crerend, Malone and Dakota Foster ’18 added their names to the scoresheet. The purple and white also held Springfield without a goal, entering the half with a 5-0 lead.

While Springfield did manage to score three of the first four goals in the second half, cutting the lead to just three, Amherst responded strongly, scoring three goals in the last six minutes to clinch the victory. Both Malone and Crerend notched their second goal of the game, while Wyeth managed her first of the game. Although Springfield mustered one final consolation goal, the purple and white emerged victorious.

After this series of games, Amherst moves to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in NESCAC play. The purple and white return to action on Saturday, March 25, when the team will play Hamilton at home on Pratt Field.