Strong Second Half Lifts No. 7 Amherst Past Colby, 12-9

AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College's Quinn Moroney '16 scored four goals and added an assist and the seventh-ranked Purple & White scored nine goals in the second half to help seal a 12-9 victory over Colby College in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC clash at Gooding Field.

RECORDS
Colby (3-8, 0-6 NESCAC)
Amherst (9-2, 5-1 NESCAC)

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• In a first quarter that featured superb defensive play, Colby netted the game's first goal at the 9:36 mark when Yuta Murata scored to make it 1-0.
• Amherst answered through Charlie Gill '16 who found the back of the at the 6:44 mark, before the Mules struck for back-to-back markers as Cillian Connor scored on the man-advantage (assisted by Sam Wasserman), while Kevin Seiler capitalized with a marker on a feed from Scott Miller to make it 3-1 with 3:17 to play in the opening stanza.
• A laser into the nylon by Uzoma Egbuchulam '17 with six ticks on the clock set the score at 3-2 in favor of Colby after 15 minutes of play.
• In another closely contested second frame, both sides managed just one goal each as Moroney scored his first on a pass from Sam Lawlor '16 at the 12:45 mark.
• The Mules responded when Alex Rutan scored on a feed from Murata at the 9:06 mark as Colby held on for a slim, 4-3 edge at intermission.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• A strong third period that featured five straight goals by the Purple & White started when Evan Wolf '19 ripped an unassisted shot into the back of the cage at the 14:42 mark to even the game at 4-4.
• Moroney then scored an unassisted goal, while Wolf added his second of the quarter assisted by Dylan Park '16 to make it 6-4.
• Gill then found Moroney at the 9:49 mark, and Greg Roder '18 chipped in an unassisted tally at the 2:55 mark to double Amherst's advantage to 8-4.
• Rutan fired in a goal at the 2:06 mark to close out the scoring in the third stanza and set the score at 8-5 with 15 minutes left to play in the contest.
• After Brett Inglesby '18 (assisted by Moroney), and Seiler (assisted by Max Cushman) traded goals to start the fourth quarter, Amherst used consecutive scoring strikes by Moroney and Connor Sheehan '18 to stake an 11-6 lead with 7:05 to play.
• The Mules answered with two goals of their own as Kevin Beil and Seiler each tabbed goals, assisted by Seiler and Rutan respectively, to set the score at 11-8 with 3:11 to play.
• A goal at the 2:23 mark by Kane Haffey '16 with a nice dish from Lawlor lifted the lead back to four (12-8), before Miller rounded out the scoring following a pass from Seiler to make it 12-9.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Cody Tranbarger '17 earned the win to improve to 9-2 on the season and registered nine saves in 42:54 of action. Justin Imperatore '19 made four stops in 17:06 of relief between the pipes for the Purple & White.
• Moroney led all players with seven ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers, while Connor Crump '16 picked up six ground balls.
• Ryan Cassidy '16 and Brian O'Malley '17 were a force on defense causing three turnovers each, while Amherst was 15-for-25 in face offs. David White '18 was 2-for-3, Austin Park '19 was 5-for-8, Jack Wolff '19 was 4-for-6, and Ian Kadish '18 was 4-for-8 at the center dot.
• Rutan and Beil led Colby with five ground balls each, while Max Eberhart was 10-for-25 in face offs.
• Between the posts, Dylan Rothenberg made 21 saves in the losing effort.

UP NEXT

• Amherst returns to NESCAC action Tuesday, April 12 when it travels to Conn. College for a 4:30 p.m. contest in New London, Conn.
• The Mules take the field again Saturday, April 16 when it travels to Williams College for a 1 p.m. matchup in Williamstown, Mass.