SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Junior Diana Banmann scored just 1:49 into overtime to lift the Mount Holyoke College field hockey team to a 3-2 victory over #11 Amherst College in non-conference action on Tuesday evening. With the victory, the Lyons move to 4-0 on the season, while the Jeffs slip to 0-2. The win also marked the first for MHC over Amherst since 2003.

Locked in a 2-all tie after the first 70 minutes of action, the Lyons gained the advantage off an early penalty corner. Junior midfielder Kirsten Kilburn (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) set up the tally, firing a shot in from the top of the circle which was initially saved by Jeffs keeper Rachel Tannenbaum (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga).

Unable to control the rebound, the ball came loose on the left side to Banmann, who tallied all three Mount Holyoke goals, then sent a low shot through traffic into the right corner post to win it.

The Lyons opened the game's scoring at 8:50 as Banmann dribbled up the center and cut to the right to drop a shot into the corner past the Amherst defense. It was Banmann once again to open the second half, as she found the rebound of a Sarah LaQuerre (Old Orchard Beach, Maine/Cheverus) and followed it through past the right of the keeper.

Amherst refused to go quietly late in the game, breaking onto the scoreboard at 48:39 behind a marker from sophomore forward Katie Paolano (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor). Despite a save in front off a shot from first year Sara Culhane (Titusville, N.J./The Lawrenceville School), MHC netminder Liz DiCesare (Westford, Mass./Bishop Guertin) was unable to control the ball, which came out to Paolano for the score.

Paolano tied it up at 2-all minutes later after she scored on a penalty corner – one of Amherst's 29 opportunities in the contest. A shot from senior forward Krista Zsitvay (New Vernon, N.J./Kent Place) was saved by DiCesare, but much like her first goal, Paolano was there down low to poke the ball over the line and send it into overtime.

The Jeffs held the advantage in multiple categories, including shots (31-9) and penalty corners (29-2). In the MHC goal, DiCesare made 10 saves, while her counterpart Tannenbaum had three stops.

Defensively, the Lyons also saw an outstanding effort from first year Ruvimbo Mushavi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Arundel School). She recorded three defensive saves in the contest, all of which came in the second half as Amherst attacked the net by a 17-4 margin in shots.

Mount Holyoke returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Western New England University at 1pm. Amherst is also in action on Saturday, hosting Bowdoin at 12pm.