MEDFORD, MA (October 28, 2023) – Amherst College junior Kat Mason scored with 26 seconds left in overtime to give the visiting Mammoths a 3-2 victory over Tufts University in a NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinal at an unseasonably warm and sunny Ounjian Field on Saturday.
Seventh-seed Amherst (10-6) advances to the conference semifinals and will play #1 seed and host Middlebury College next Saturday. The #2 seed Jumbos (11-4) will await a potential NCAA Tournament berth.
In overtime, Mason poked the ball away from a Tufts player near midfielder and beat a Jumbo defender on her rush to the goal. Once in the circle, she moved right to elude two defenders and blasted a shot into the cage for the victory.
Both goalkeepers had made saves on break-ins earlier in the overtime. Jumbo sophomore
Lydia Eastburn dove to make an arm save when Amherst's Sam Maynard came in on her alone. Then on Tufts' trip back up the field,
Claire Gavin worked past a defender for an open shot that the Mammoths' Grace Puchalski slid out to save.
The other four goals in the game were scored during a frantic back-and-forth second quarter. Mason scored her first of two goals on the day during a corner when sophomore Isa Lattuada slid a pass to the right across the top of the circle to Mason who drove it inside the left post barely a minute into the period.
The Jumbos retaliated, also on a corner with 9:14 on the second-quarter clock.
Ashley Zolin's insert went to
Kylie Rosenquest at the top of the circle. She sent it down to
Andrea DelGiudice whose shot went between the goalie's pads to tie the score.
Amherst had a goal disallowed following a discussion by the referees, but soon made up for it with another one to take a 2-1 lead. On corner, Anna Aiello settled the insert by Kate Smith and Muffie Mazambani blasted the ball into the left side of the cage just 70 seconds after Tufts had tied it.
With three minutes left until halftime, Tufts' Meghan McDonald tied the score when she intercepted an Amherst clearing attempt at the top right curve of the circle. She quickly pushed a shot into the far left corner of the cage for her first goal of the year.
Amherst had an edge in the third quarter, but Eastburn made two saves including one on a break-away by Molly Donegan to keep the score even. The Jumbos had a slight edge in the fourth, including a pair of corners early and when a green card was whistled against Amherst late. The card carried over into overtime, giving Tufts a six-on-five advantage in the field. However, it was Amherst who would get the win on a great effort by Mason.
Shots finished 19-12 in favor of Amherst, and the visitors took corners too 9-7. Puchalski, making just her second start of the season, stopped five shots. Eastburn made seven saves for Tufts.
--JUMBOS--
