AMHERST, Mass. – Mounting a late equalizer and battling through their fourth overtime contest of the season, the No. 9 Amherst College field hockey team ultimately fell 2-1 (2-0) against MIT in a defensive penalty shootout Wednesday night at Hill Field.
Amherst fell to 3-3 on the season while MIT remained unbeaten at 8-0 overall. The Mammoths will host Bates College next, who they'll face on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Hill Field.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
*Amherst's offense heated up in the eleventh minute as first-year
Bella Kim possessed in front of the cage and fired the ball toward the left post, but a sliding save from junior goaltender Maeve Zimmer kept the match scoreless.
*MIT found the scoreboard three minutes later on a penalty corner. Off the rebound of sophomore
Kate Grady's save, senior Bailey McIntyre slotted to sophomore Drew Hussar wide of the right post, who buried the ball through a web of players, off the stick of first-year Meredith Wu, and into the net.
*First-year
Devon Watson looked to break the ice for the Mammoths in the second stanza, rocketing the ball toward the left post in the sixth minute, but Zimmer laid out to cool Amherst's momentum.
*First-year Sierra Kim nearly extended MIT's lead with seven minutes remaining in the quarter, weaving through Amherst's defensive line for a one-on-one with Grady, but a strong challenge from sophomore
Emily Huehn regained possession for the Mammoths.
*Amherst opened the third quarter with a penalty corner that saw first-year
Emma Zhang blast the ball toward the goal from outside the shooting circle, but her shot slid wide of the left post.
*The Mammoths found their equalizer five minutes into the stanza as Zhang sent a bouncing pass into the heart of the circle, where Kim fired a backhand toward the goal. Junior
Genevieve Caruso collected the rebound and tipped the ball in to tie the game 1-1.
*From the top of the arch, Kim wound up and blasted the ball toward the right post, but the shot pinged off the iron with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
*Sophomore Caroline Bussler tipped off the final quarter with a strong offensive chance as the forward crossed the ball across the cage to an open Watson, but her shot slid wide. Bussler bookended her early efforts in the period with a one-on-one breakaway against Zimmer in the final forty seconds, but tight defense from Hussar regained possession for MIT and sent the match to overtime.
*Grady raced off her line and made an impressive sliding save against the open shot of junior Janie Thomas to keep the match alive for the Mammoths with five minutes remaining in overtime.
*Both offenses cooled off in the final minutes of free overtime play, with fouls and late substitutions leading the way for the penalty shootout.
*Despite Grady making three shootout blocks, Zimmer denied all four of Amherst's attempts to clinch the 2-1 (2-0) victory for MIT.
BY THE NUMBERS:
*Amherst led offensively, going 14-5 in shots, 9-5 in shots on goal, and 8-2 in corners. Kim notched the most shots of any player, shooting 4.
*Across 80 minutes of play, Grady made 4 saves and Zimmer made 8.
