SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Junior defender Kendall Codey's second half proved to be the difference as Amherst College held on for a 3-2 victory over Mount Holyoke College on Thursday evening. With the win, the #13 Mammoths claim victory in their first match of the season, while the Lyons slip to 1-1 overall.
Leading by a 2-1 advantage, Codey (Summit, N.J./Summit) corralled a corner injection from sophomore midfielder Laura Schwartzman (Darien, Conn./Darien) at the top of the circle, firing a shot through traffic and into the right corner for the 3-1 edge. Mount Holyoke countered with 52:11 left on the clock as sophomore midfielder Anna Ballou (South Deerfield, Mass./Deerfield Academy) sent a pass from the right side of the net to the middle. Through the scrum in front of the goalie, junior midfielder Liz Delorme (Florence, Mass./Bellingham) found it and poked it in to pull it to within one (3-2).
The Lyons had a penalty corner opportunity with two minutes remaining, but a well-placed lift at the top of the circle from junior midfielder Mirjam Keochakian (Hamburg, Germany/Deerfield Academy), was knocked down and out on a defensive stop from senior midfielder Caroline Feeley (Walpole, Mass./Walpole).
Mount Holyoke opened the game's scoring at 13:39 of the opening half as senior captain and forward Kaitlin Braz (Tolland, Conn./East Catholic) deflected in a Keochakian shot from the top of the circle past the reach of sophomore goalie Emilie Flamme (Harding, N.J./Madison). Amherst grabbed the equalizer less than two minutes later as senior middie Elizabeth Turnbull (Harding Township, N.J./Madison) sent a bullet shot off Schwartzman's injection into the right corner past a diving Morgan Turner (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham).
Amherst made it a 2-1 lead at 29:28 on a replica of the first goal as Turnbull once again connected off an injection from Schwartzman. For the Mammoths, Flamme did not record any saves, while Feeley earned a defensive stop. For the Lyons, Turner made six saves.
The Mammoths held a 14-5 edge in shots, while also edging the home team in penalty corners by a 6-4 margin.
Both teams return to action on Saturday as Mount Holyoke travels to Castleton for a 12pm game, while Amherst opens conference play at home against Bowdoin at 11am.
