Box Score MEDFORD – The Tufts women's lacrosse team avenged another loss from last year as they bested Amherst College (9-5, 4-5 NESCAC) 11-10 in an overtime contest, improving their record to 6-3 in the NESCAC and 10-4 overall. With one more regular season game to be played, as well as the conference tournament and potentially the NCAA tournament, the ten victories matches the Jumbos' win total from a year ago. The NESCAC's second-leading scorer junior Caroline Ross came away with six scores, her second-highest single-game total of the season, while first-year midfielder Julia Crerend notched a hat trick for the Purple and White.
Tufts never led, but never fell behind by more than two, in an evenly-played first half. Junior middie Mia Haughton worked tirelessly all game and helped put the Purple and White on the board first when she raced down the field into the offensive zone and found senior attacker Priscilla Tyler at the front of the net. As Tyler turned to shoot, she was cut off by her defender, but she stuck with the play and spun around, finding enough space to get a shot off for the score.
Ross countered less than two minutes later with a weaving drive that ended at the cage with a goal.
Haughton was involved on the other side of the scoring play with just under 20 minutes to go when, from behind the net, she shot the gap between her defender and the goal post, finishing on net. Less than two minutes later, sophomore attacker Claire Cagnassola received a great feed from junior attacker Rachel Passarelli and was able to put Amherst up 3-1.
After a five-minute scoreless lapse, Ross brought the Jumbos back to within one with a bouncing free-position shot, but four minutes later Tyler found herself all alone on the lower right side of the eight with her teammate Haughton at the top for a free position. Haughton made the easy decision and sent a pass to Tyler for the score.
At the other end, Tufts caught Amherst on a late defensive rotation as senior Kali DiGate eyed the open player Ross, who was left of center on the eight. The Purple and White defender was left scrambling across the eight towards Ross, but as she sprinted at her, Ross made a quick move to her left letting the defender go by, squared up to the cage, and buried it.
After failing to turn two outstanding defensive checks, from senior Emily Wright and junior Brigid Bowser, into goals, the Jumbos' ride forced a senior defender Kerry Fusco turnover during the Amherst clear. On the ensuing possession, Bowser ended a seven-minute scoring drought by converting a free position to tie the game for the first time since 0-0. Her goal came with 23 seconds left and knotted the score at 4-4 going into halftime.
Bowser gave the Jumbos their first lead of the game to open the second half, but it would only last for 12 seconds as Tyler won the ensuing draw and launched a pass to sophomore attacker Coco Kusiak who was posted up in front of the cage and finished from close-range. Senior midfielder Meghan Mills took the lead back for Amherst with her free-position strike at 25:13.
Three minutes later, Ross and DiGate worked behind the net where DiGate drew a defender and dumped the ball to Ross who was a few meters to her right, followed by a Ross dime to freshman Calie Nowak who made a textbook cut from the top of the eight and rifled a shot past junior goalkeeper Christy Forrest.
Senior Lindsey Walker's one-on-one goal and Ross's waist-high side-net free-position gave Tufts an 8-6 advantage with just over 15 minutes left to play.
Crerend ended the three-goal Jumbo spurt as she drove from the top, turning her shoulder inside to avoid the defender, and eventually firing a high shot past senior goalkeeper Rachel Gallimore. A little over a minute later, Crerend attacked again and was given a free-position. She twisted her way towards cage and rocketed a high shot into the netting to even the game at eight.
The NESCAC's third-leading scorer Passarelli, who had been quiet all game, tallied a free-position and the hot-handed Crerend completed a hat trick and a four-goal Amherst run to give the Purple and White a 10-8 edge with 6:08 to play.
Almost four minutes ticked by before Ross slotted one past Forrest from just inside the eight to lower the deficit to one. Then, with one minute remaining, Nowak found the back of the net for a 10-10 deadlock where it would stay until the scoreboard showed zeros, but not before Haughton had a chance to give Amherst the W. With four seconds left, Haughton took her hash. The whistle blew and her shot was met with one of the biggest plays of the day, a monster rejection from junior defender Jaymi Cohen who came from the side to bat the ball away.
One goal was all that was needed in the overtime period as Ross finished her six-goal day with a perfectly placed free-position. Two critical turnovers, one caused by Wright and one unforced, doomed Amherst in the final minutes.
Wright ended her day with four draws, two caused turnovers, and one ground ball, while Bowser crowded the stat sheet with two goals, two assists, four ground balls, one draw control, and three caused turnovers. Gallimore stopped six shots in sixty-six minutes of action.
Tyler finished with two goals and one assist, as well as seven draw controls, while Mills tallied three ground balls and two draw controls. Senior defender Heath Cockrell forced three turnovers and Forrest saved ten.
Both Amherst and Tufts wrap up their regular seasons with home games next Wednesday at 7:00pm. Amherst faces top dog Trinity, while the Jumbos take on second-place Bowdoin.
#
