Briody Leads Eighth-Ranked Jeffs Over Wheaton In 18-3 Stomping
AMHERST, MA – Junior attacker Alyssa Briody (Hopewell, NJ) posted four goals on five shots and added four assists for a career-high eight points to lead the eighth-ranked Amherst College women's lacrosse team to an 18-3 victory over visiting non-conference rival Wheaton College.
Eight players posted two or more points for Amherst, including rookie Amy Craig (Denver, CO), who notched her first career hattrick. The Jeff defense allowed just nine shots and held Wheaton scoreless for the final 23 minutes of play to sail away with their eighth victory of the year (8-1), while the Lyons dropped to 6-6.
Wheaton won the opening draw and got off a quick shot 17 seconds into the game, but sophomore goaltender Linda McEvoy (Rochester, NY) came up big, and the shot would be the last for Wheaton for the next 15 minutes. Senior tri-captain Scotty Hanley (Sparks, MD) set the tone for Amherst, converting feeds from fellow tri-captain Caitie Parker (Bethesda, MD) and rookie midfielder Mary Noonan (W. Roxbury, MA) to net a pair of scores in the opening two minutes. Wheaton was unable to get the ball into their offensive end until the 15-minute mark, due to stellar midfield play by Parker, who finished with four ground balls, and junior Liz Wise (Scarsdale, NY) who grabbed three draw controls and forced a pair of turnovers. First-year midfielder Bridget Thornton (Southington, CT) finally got Wheaton on the board on a free-position shot at 14:41, but Amherst responded with a string of three goals, including a back-to-back pair from Briody. Lyons' rookie Madeline Williams (Annapolis, MD) added a low-angle score at 0:23 to cut Amherst's lead to 7-2 going into the break.
After an early left-handed score from sophomore Maddie Hoeg (Shoreham, NY) to open the half, Thornton scored the second of her pair at 23:17. It would be the end of Wheaton's scoring as Amherst went on a 10-0 run to end the game and secure the rout. Junior Dana Kuper (Denver, CO) scored on a one-on-one from the left side at 21:20 and then fed classmate Rachel Lewis (Denver, CO) 36 seconds later. After forcing an Wheaton timeout near the 19-minute mark, junior Caroline Shannon (Hanover, NH) snatched the ensuing draw control and fed a wide-open Briody to make it 12-3. Amherst maintained command down the stretch, as sophomore Gretchen DeLuke (Lewiston, NY) grabbed three ground balls and classmate Kristina Green (London, England) added a caused turnover. Briody posted three of her assists late in the game, feeding Hoeg, Craig and Wise for insurance goals in the waning minutes.
Kuper and Wise each finished with two goals and an assist, while Lewis, Hanley and Hoeg added a pair of goals apiece. Senior tri-captain Laura Brown (Bethesda, MD) had two caused turnovers, a ground ball and a draw control, and junior Maggie Roth (Berwyn, PA) scooped three ground balls. McEvoy needed just three saves to get the win, while sophomore goalie Kathleen Boucher (Washington, DC) picked up a pair of stops and allowed no goals in 18 minutes of relief.