No. 7 Amherst Pulls Away From Conn. College, 11-5

Photo is courtesy of Amherst College

AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 7 Amherst College women's lacrosse team used three goals each from Rachel Passarelli '16, Hanna Krueger '17, and Kate Wyeth '17 to down Connecticut College, 11-5 in Tuesday's NESCAC contest at Gooding Field.

With the win, Amherst improves to 8-2 on the season, 5-2 in league action, while Conn. College moves to 5-7 overall, 1-6 in NESCAC play.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst scored three goals in the first 9:27 of action as Passarelli started the scoring at the 26:02 mark, followed by a pair of strikes from Krueger to make it 3-0 with 20:33 remaining in the first stanza.
• Conn. College netted its first goal at the 19:42 mark when Hannah Donegan capitalized on a free position shot to make it 3-1.
• Mary Grace Cronin '18 responded for Amherst as she connected for an unassisted score with 9:30 to play in the half, before Passarelli added her second of the stanza with 4:18 on the clock to help the Purple & White take a 5-1 lead in the halftime break.
• A stingy Amherst defense held the Camels to just three shots in the first 30 minutes of play.  

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• Krueger collected her third marker of the game early in the second half as she found the back of the net on a feed from Coco Kusiak '17 at the 27:28 mark to make it 6-1.
• Conn. College answered with a Cassidy Lynch goal, but Wyeth extended the lead back to five on a free position shot less than a minute later to make it 7-2 with 25:43 to play.
• The Camels then struck for consecutive goals as Madison Barker and Annie Cornbrooks each found nylon to make 7-4 with 8:25 to play. Barker's score came on the free position, while Cornbrooks used an assist from Donegan.
• The final 7:36 saw Amherst outscore the visitors, 4-1 as Claire Cagnassola '17 and Passarelli each notched goals, while Wyeth struck twice more. Mia Haughton '16 assisted Wyeth's last goal with 16 seconds left.
• Tina Balzotti added a goal for the Camels with five ticks remaining to set the final score at 11-5.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Rowena Schenck '18 led all players with five ground balls, while Krueger, Julia Crerend '18 and Christy Forrest '16 added three each.
• Cagnassola earned three draw controls, while Forrest made five saves and improved to 8-2 between the pipes.
• Barker led Conn. College with eight draw controls, while Erin Moran picked up four ground balls in the losing effort.
• Meg Raskin suffered the loss in goal and made seven saves.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Passarelli has now scored 104 goals in her career and has totaled 138 points during her four years with the Purple & White.
• Haughton also recently eclipsed the century mark in career points (102) on the strength of 48 career goals, and 54 assists over her career in the Pioneer Valley.

UP NEXT

• Amherst will host NESCAC foe No. 17 Tufts University in its regular season home finale on Saturday, April 16. Saturday's game marks Senior Day for the Purple & White with first draw slated for 12 p.m. at Pratt Field.
• Conn. College returns to play on Saturday, April 16 when it travels to No. 11 Hamilton College for a 12 p.m. conference contest in Clinton, N.Y.