Amherst Defeats Women's Soccer in NCAA Tourney,
2-0
NORTON, Mass. (11/11/06) - The Amherst College women's soccer
team strung together back-to-back tallies during a 4:45 span of the
first half en route to a 2-0 victory over Kean University in
Saturday afternoon's NCAA Division III Tournament first round game
at Wheaton College's Mirrione Stadium. The Lord Jeffs, who met the
Cougars for the first time today, advance to tomorrow's second
round versus host Wheaton at 1:00 p.m.
Making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance, Amherst improved to
13-2-1 after picking up its eighth victory over the last nine
games. Kean, which was competing in its sixth NCAA Tournament and
first since 1996, finish the season at 12-5-2.
In a half that saw the Jeffs hold a decisive 19-5 advantage in
shots, Amherst capitalized on a pair of scoring opportunities
midway through the stanza, as senior forward Amy Armstrong (Avon,
Conn.) played a hand in both tallies. After posting the game-winner
off a pass from freshman Meg Murphy (Springfield, Mass.) at 19:22,
Armstrong assisted junior Heather Nowak (New Haven, Conn.) at
24:07.
Armstrong scored her team-leading 12th goal of the season while
upping her point total to 28. On Amherst's second goal, Armstrong
sent a short cross into the six, where Kean freshman keeper Nicole
Groszew (Denville, N.J.) punched the ball away but to the foot of
Nowak, who one-timed her shot into the back of the net.
With the score 2-0 entering the second half, the Jeffs nearly made
it a 3-0 game midway through the stanza, but Groszew made a
point-blank save on freshman Cami Farkas' (Cambridge, Mass.) shot
to keep the deficit at two. The Cougars finished the stanza with
five shots but were unable to capitalize. Jeff senior keeper Piper
Crowell (San Rafael, Calif.) posted two stops in the win, while
Groszew finished with 10 saves. Amherst outshot Kean, 32-10 with a
5-1 advantage in corner kicks.
The defeat closed out the careers of four-year starters Heather
Anzvino, Lisa Battaglia, Brienne Campbell and Allison Fream.
