Box Score
LEWISTON, Maine -- Amherst College sophomore Maddie Hoeg (Shoreham, N.Y.) scored the game-winner on a free-position goal with 2:37 left in the game as the Lord Jeffs defeated Bates College 9-8 in a NESCAC women's lacrosse game Sunday afternoon.
Hoeg's goal, her second of the game, broke an 8-8 tie that had lasted for over 16 minutes.
Amherst, ranked No. 8 in Division III in the USILA coaches' poll, improves to 10-1 overall, 6-1 in the NESCAC. Bates drops to 5-6, 1-6 in the conference.
Amherst broke out of a 5-5 halftime tie with consecutive free-position goals by junior Alyssa Briody (Hopewell, N.J.) and first-year Mary Noonan (West Roxbury, Mass.) in the opening minutes of the second half. Bates sophomore defender Ali Emery (Richmond, Vt.) ran the length of the field and converted an unassisted goal to close the gap to 7-6 with 24:34 remaining, but Noonan answered with an unassisted goal less than a minute later.
Bates junior Meg Coffin (Westford, Mass.) converted an assist from junior Katherine Farmer (Madison, Conn.) with 20:19 left, and senior Shannon Tully (Needham, Mass.) evened the game less than two minutes later off another Farmer assist.
Bates goalkeeper Katie Nickerson (Windham, N.H.) turned back a pair of free-position shots awarded to the Lord Jeffs down the stretch, but Hoeg finally cashed in with Amherst's fourth free-position goal of the game, and the Lord Jeffs ran the final two and a half minutes off the clock to seal the win.
Noonan scored three times for Amherst, while both Hoeg and first-year Amy Craig (Denver, Colo.) scored a pair of goals. Briody had a goal and an assist, and junior Liz Wise (Scarsdale, N.Y.) also scored a goal. Sophomore goalie Linda McEvoy (Rochester, N.Y.) made seven saves for Amherst, all in the first half.
Tully scored three times for Bates. Sophomore Molly Wagner (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Farmer each recorded a goal and two assists, and Emery added one goal and one assist. Also scoring for the Bobcats were Coffin and sophomore Julie Berman (Concord, N.H.). Nickerson made seven saves in goal.
Bates plays at Bowdoin on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Amherst will host Tufts Wednesday at 4:30.
