WATERVILLE, Maine - Netting a pair of goals in the first 20 minutes, the eighth-ranked Amherst women's soccer team improved to 10-0-0 overall and 7-0-0 in NESCAC play with a 5-1 win over Colby on Loebs Field, clinching a home quarterfinal game in the upcoming conference championship.
With the victory the Jeffs improved to 21-5-6 all-time against the Mules. Since 1998, Amherst is 14-0-2 against Colby, with the Mules' last win coming during the 1997 season.
Hoping to get off to a fast start, Amherst drew an early foul just above the 18-yard box. Junior Kathryn Nathan (Pembroke, Mass.) would play the ensuing free-kick out wide, toward the left corner, allowing Mel Stier '15 (Deerfield, Mass.) to float a cross across the face of the goal. Charging toward the back post, senior co-captain Jill Kochanek (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won the ball in the air, heading it into the net at 17:39 for her second marker of the year.
Just 1:21 later, Nathan found an open Sarah Duffy '14 (Fairfield, Conn.) just above the right side of the 18. With space, Duffy looked toward goal, lifting a shot over the head of first-year goalkeeper Emily Brook to stake Amherst to a 2-0 lead at the half.
Looking to carry their momentum into the second, Amherst wasted no time getting back on the board, pushing the game's third tally across the goal line at 50:15. Making a run down the right side, Duffy sent a cross toward the back post to Elizabeth Ludlow '14 (Huntington, N.Y.), who tapped in her first goal of the season.
Trying to keep pace, Colby first-year midfielder Maddie Tight pushed forward, hoping to cut into the Jeff lead, but Amherst senior keeper Allie Horwitz (Woodbridge, Conn.) got her hands on the header to preserve the shutout. Still in search of the Mules' first goal, Samantha Merriweather '12 moved into the attacking third in the 57th minute, sending a shot over Horwitz's head and into the Lord Jeff net to trim the Amherst cushion to 3-1.
The Lord Jeffs responded by netting a goal just under three minutes later, when Nathan snuck a well-placed direct free-kick from 25 yards out inside the back post. Within two minutes of Nathan's tally, Duffy capped off scoring, receiving a pass from teammate Amanda Brisco '14 (Houston, Texas) just inside the 18 before slotting it into the Colby net for Amherst's fifth goal.
The Jeffs finished with an 18-5 shot advantage and a 5-1 edge in corners. Behind another strong effort from an Amherst backline that allowed just five shots, Horwitz made one save en route to her 10th victory, while Brook made 9 stops in the loss.
The Lord Jeffs are back in action tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 16 at NESCAC rival Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine.
