The Amherst women’s lacrosse team dropped two NESCAC contests this past week against Wesleyan and Colby.
On Wednesday, April 5, the Mammoths traveled to Middletown, Conn. for a midweek conference match-up against Wesleyan. Despite a nine-save effort from goalie Kyra Gardner ’18, Amherst was unable to generate enough of an offensive presence to bring home a win on the road.

The majority of the first half was scoreless, with both teams unable to successfully penetrate the other’s defense. However, after more than 16 minutes of action, Wesleyan’s Liana Mathias was the first player to get on the board. Motivated by Mathias’ effort, the Cardinals tacked on another two goals and led the Mammoths 3-0 with less than ten minutes to go in the first half.

A goal from Claire Cagnassola ’17 of a pass from Kaitlyn Haase ’19 ended Amherst’s scoring drought and brought them within two with 1:15 left before halftime. Wesleyan responded quickly, tacking on another goal before the horn blew and reclaimed their three-goal advantage.

For the first few minutes of the second half, the Mammoths kept the game close. Goals from senior Hanna Krueger and junior Dakota Foster kept the score tight 5-3 with 26:03 to go in the game. However, four straight Wesleyan goals sealed Amherst’s fate. Julia Crerend ’18 added one more goal off a feed from Katherine Malone ’20 before the final whistle to make the score 9-4.

Krueger was also a presence on the defensive end for the Mammoths with two caused turnovers. Sabrina Solow ’19 caused two turnovers of her own in the losing effort.

The Mammoths returned home to Gooding Field on Saturday, April 8 to host the Colby Mules. Amherst went up quickly on the 19th-ranked Mules, taking a 2-0 lead less than ten minutes into the game.

Cagnassola opened up the scoring with a goal off an assist from Annie Cohen ’19 at 22:04. Krueger added an unassisted goal less than a minute later. The Mules’ offense was held at bay until for the most of the first half; their first goal came with less than ten minutes to go in the half. Colby’s Cassie Rogers tacked on a second goal to tie up the game going into halftime.

The Mules completely dominated the second half, scoring six straight goals. Cagnassola prevented the Mammoths from having a scoreless half with a goal off a feed from Kate Burns ’19 with less than a minute to play in the game.

Cagnassola was a force for the Mammoths in their loss to the Mules. The senior led the team in goals and groundballs with two and three respectively. Kelly Seibert ’20 and Rowena Schenck ’18 anchored the defense for the Mammoths causing two turnovers a piece.

On Tuesday, Amherst took on Connecicut College in an attempt to halt the three-game losing streak, and they were successful.

Although the opening few minutes were back-and-forth for the Mammoths, with a Camels’ goal cancelling out the Amherst opener, the game quickly blew open. The Mammoths went on a 6-0 run to close the half, with goals coming from six different players.

The strong play continued to open the second half, with Amherst scoring two more unanswered to take an insurmountable 9-1 lead. A Conn. College consolation tally brought the margin to seven goals, but four more goals from the Mammoths at the end of the second half brought the final margin to 13-2.

With the results against the trio of conference foes, Amherst drops to 5-6 on the season and 2-5 in NESCAC play. The Mammoths will next face Tufts on the road on Saturday, April 15 at 1 p.m.