Amherst Deals Women's Soccer Loss

Author: Kate Nerenberg

Ending its fourth week of play, the Middlebury women's soccer team split a pair of games to improve its record to 4-3-1. After a romp of Colby-Sawyer on Wednesday, the Panthers dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday to New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foe, Amherst College.
The Panthers went into the Colby-Sawyer game fired up and used a strong first half to secure the victory. In only the first seven minutes of the game, Middlebury scored three consecutive goals en route to a commanding victory. Meg Bonney '03 notched the first goal at 5:58. Within the next minute, the Panthers were up, 3-0. Britt Kittelesen '03 scored next just 40 seconds later while Bonney grabbed her second goal of the afternoon at 6:58. Brittney Cronin '05 scored her first intercollegiate goal at the 30-minute mark to end the Panther scoring run and put her team up, 4-0.
"The Colby-Sawyer game was a great opportunity for newer players to showcase their talents. Molly Turco '04 showed her physical dominance in a central area and [goalkeeper] Jessica Larson '04 turned away danger and collected another shutout," praised Head Coach Diane Boettcher.
Armed with their confidence and a strong trust in their non-starters, the Panthers took on Amherst at home on Saturday. The game started a little differently than the Colby-Sawyer contest, however. Lord Jeff sophomore Ashley Harmeling found the back of the net off a rebound in the first eight minutes, scoring the only goal of the first session.
With their NESCAC and national ranking on their shoulders, the Panthers broke out in the second half as Leah Cumsky-Whitlock '03 managed to tie the game just 11 minutes in. The second half proved to be a back-and-forth battle before the Panthers found the opportunity they were looking for. At 71:44, Cumsky-Whitlock put Middlebury on top as she converted a penalty kick for her second goal of the day.
However, the Panthers could not hold onto their lead, losing it just two minutes later as Amherst again brought the game to a tie. With only 5:51 left in the game, Harmeling scored her second goal to lift the Lord Jeffs over Middlebury. The loss drops the Panthers out of the national rankings and they currently sit in the fifth position among NESCAC teams.
Boettcher views the last-minute loss as a "tactical" problem: "We have a commitment to play more Panthers earlier and add a full sweeping defender behind marking backs." Boettcher plans on adjusting her lineup in order to strengthen and speed up her defense.
The Panthers will take their new look to Lydon Sate on Wednesday and face another NESCAC rival, Williams, who is currently ranked first in league standings, on Saturday. Boettcher's arrangement includes, "Kittelsen becoming a marker, lending both speed and defensive performance to the position, Amanda Green '03.5 stepping back to stopper to use her long range distribution and savvy under pressure, Alison Bell '05 accepting a starting role as a center midfielder to use her attacking strength to gain us mobility in going forward and Mayo Fujii '05 stepping up to start as an outside midfielder for her perceptive read of play and incisive attacking from the position."
Despite the loss to Amherst, the Panthers are looking to cause a stir in the NESCAC and claw their way to the top, starting with a strong game this weekend. They know that their performance late in the season will keep them together as long as possible.