Women's Soccer Falls Short of NESCAC Title

Author: Jeremy Shakun Sports Editor

Women's soccer traveled to Williams last Saturday to play Amherst in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament. The Panthers came into Saturday's game with an 11-4 record after going on a four-game winning streak in the latter half of October. Middlebury was the clear favorite, being seeded second just behind Williams and having beaten Amherst in every match up for the past three seasons. They were looking to repeat as NESCAC champions, but Amherst proved to be too much for the Panthers, taking them down 5-1.

The first half was competetive on both ends of the field, with strong defense keeping the number of shots taken low for both teams. At the half, the score remained 0-0.

The first 20 minutes of the second half proved to be more of the same, with no goals. Then, in the 66th minute of the game Amherst senior Sarah O'Keefe began the offensive attack on the Panthers that was to produce five Amherst goals in the span of 24 minutes. O'Keefe knocked a shot past Middlebury goaltender and team captain Ali Connolly '02 off an assist from first-year Lee Jay Henry. Meg Bonney '03 evened the game only a minute later off a pass from Leah Cumsky-Whitlock '03. This was to be Middlebury's last goal of the season.

A few seconds later Amherst senior and team captain Cathy Poor scored an unassisted goal. She upped the score to 3-1 after a second unassisted goal at 78:30. These goals are a testament to the talent of Poor, and not to the lack of ability of Connolly with these being Poor's 35th and 36th goals of her career. The game slipped away from Middlebury for good after two goals from Amherst first-year Tracy Montigny in the 83rd and 86th minute, bringing the game to its final score of 5-1.

Amherst went on to win the NESCAC Championships against Williams.