It was Little III week in the world of NESCAC lacrosse — both the men’s and women’s teams took on contests against Wesleyan and Williams. On the men’s side, Amherst fell to the Wesleyan Cardinals by just one goal in a heated Wednesday matchup in Middletown, Connecticut.
In the contest between the No. 4 Cardinals and No. 7 Mammoths, neither team took a dominant lead at any point in the 60 minutes.
Amherst won the first quarter, 2-1, thanks to markers by senior Zachary Schwartz and junior captain Evan Wolf. Dylan Peabody ’21 provided the assist on both tallies, giving Amherst a one-goal advantage after falling behind thanks to an initial score from Wesleyan’s Ronan Jacoby in the second minute of the contest.
Wesleyan responded in a big way, logging four goals in the second quarter and allowing a single tally from Amherst sophomore Matt Solberg.
After halftime, though, the momentum swung back in the visitors’ favor. The Mammoths posted four unanswered markers to open the third period, with goals by Wolf and Trenton Shore ’19. The frenzy gave Amherst a 7-5 cushion.
Peabody extended the lead to 8-5 with an assist from Colin Minicus ’20 at the seven-minute mark, but the Cardinals finished the third with tallies from Cole Turpin and Zander Kotsen in the final 3:46 to cut Amherst’s lead to just one goal.
With only six minutes left to play, however, Wesleyan regained the advantage, and although the last few minutes remained back-and-forth, the Mammoths were unable to find the requisite tying goal. When the final whistle blew, the Cardinals emerged with a 12-11 victory.
Wolf and fellow junior Jack Norton led the attack against the hosts defense, each finding the back of the net three times.
Dylan Finazzo ’20 went 19-for-26 on face offs to lead the Mammoths and posted a game-high 14 ground balls, while first-year Reid Shilling led Amherst with two forced turnovers.
The home matchup against archrival Williams would prove to be less of a challenge. Due to a track meet on Pratt Field, the game took place on more intimate Gooding Field, where the Mammoths unleashed a scoring frenzy upon the unsuspecting Ephs.
Sophomore Jon Coffey led the Amherst pack with personal-best five goals, and Minicus dished out five assists to help Amherst rack up the points. Williams was no match for Amherst’s high-powered attack and found it difficult to even get the ball out their defensive zone.
Finazzo had another big game — he and senior Drew Kelleher were stellar at the faceoff dot, finishing 15-for-19 and 9-for-11, respectively, while Finazzo led the Mammoths in ground balls with five.
Amherst then faced off against Conn. College on Tuesday. Amherst started the game strong, and continued to apply the pressure througout the entirety of the game, winning 24-11. Coffey was again a key cog in the offense, finishing the game with eight goals. Despite this solitary outburst, the Amherst offense was balanced, with 17 different Mammoths players recording at least one point in the contest.
The Mammoths will next face off against currently-undefeated Tufts on Saturday, April 14, at 1 p.m.
