Contact: Justin Long

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Sophomore Alex Philie (East Sandwich, Mass.) had a hat trick and an assist to lead No. 7 Amherst College to an 8-1 win over Smith College Thursday afternoon in non-conference field hockey action. The Lord Jeffs improve to 10-2, while Smith falls to 4-10.

With two goals and one assist, Amherst's Krista Zsitvay '14 (New Vernon, N.J.) took over the team lead in goals (12) and points (29). Katie McMahon '13 (Denville, N.J.) recorded the assist on Amherst's fifth goal, moving her into a tie for the program's career assist record (27), which is also held by Christine Ryan '04. 

Amherst opened the scoring three minutes into the game when Philie recorded an unassisted goal. Smith needed less than 90 seconds to tie things up, as Jenny Estes' pass through the box found the stick of Phoebe Hopkins, and the senior slammed it home for her third goal of the season.

The Lord Jeffs went in front for good on an unassisted goal by Zsitvay at 7:21, and Philie completed her hat trick with goals in the 19th and 27th minutes for a 4-1 lead.  Zsitvay added her second of the game less than two minutes later to complete the first-half scoring for the Lord Jeffs, who held a 19-2 advantage in shots at the break.

Amherst added three more goals in the second half, with Carly Dudzik '12 (Darien, Conn.) finding the back of the cage twice in a span of 12 minutes before Madeline Tank '15 (Winnetka, Ill.) closing out the scoring with 10 minutes remaining.

Savannah Lawson finished with 15 saves, her seventh game with at least that many this season. Rachel Tannenbaum '15 (Berwyn, Pa.) played the first 59:09 and made one save for Amherst, while Sarah Wise '13 (Akron, Ohio) stopped one shot in the final 10:51.

Amherst will return to action this Saturday for a matchup with Wesleyan University at noon.