Owls Upset Bid Falls Short Against Amherst

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior midfielder Emma Cretella (Cheshire, Conn.) tallied four goals, but the Owls dropped a tightly contested game to #19 ranked Amherst College 11-8 on a Friday night from Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls fall to 3-4 on the year while the Mammoths win their third straight game to improve to 5-1 on the season.

The Mammoths began the scoring in the contest with Sophia Guttmann (Weston, Fla.) netting her 13^th goal of the season to put Amherst ahead 1-0.

After the Mammoths goal, the Owls seized momentum in the quarter, scoring the next four goals in the game. Nicole Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) tied the game with a free position goal, then Cretella buried a free position attempt of her own to give Westfield a 2-1 lead after one period.

On the opening draw control of the second period, Megan Bailey (Quincy, Mass.) fed a pass to Rinkus who spun at the top of the crease and fired a shot on net that was initially saved by Mammoths goalkeeper Caroline Stole (Baltimore, Md.) with the rebound ricocheting to Cassidy Connolly (Woburn, Mass.) who fired a shot into the back of the net to push the Owls lead to 3-1.

With 11:30 remaining in the half, an Amherst offensive attack which ended on a Sydney Larsen (Sewickley, Penn.) shot was denied by Owls keeper Kara Banagan (Niskayuna, N.Y.) with the transition offense ending in Cretella's second goal of the night to extend the Westfield lead to 4-1.

Amherst flipped the script midway through the second quarter, with Larsen delivering a pass to Sydney Kang (Port Washington, N.Y.) who launched a shot past Banagan to convert on a player-down advantage, trimming the Owls lead to 4-2.

Kang was the distributor of the Mammoths third goal of the contest which came just twenty seconds later, setting up Emily Petersen (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) for her team-leading 16^th goal of the season to make it a 4-3 game.  

Cretella answered the Amherst scores with her third goal of the half, weaving her way through a pair of Amherst defenders, then backhanding a low shot past Stole, making it a 5-3 Owls lead with 5:07 left in the period.

Despite the strong start to the game for Westfield, the Mammoths dominated play in the final five minutes of the half to eventually take the lead. Larsen inched Amherst closer with a free position goal, then Petersen found the equalizer with 2:39 to play in the half, cutting through the middle of the crease and lasering a shot past Banagan.

In the waning seconds of the half, Clara Sosa (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) broke down her nearest defender, then ripped a shot that gave Amherst their second lead of the game since the opening minutes of the game. Amherst entered halftime with a 6-5 lead.

In the second half, Sosa opened the third period with a pair of goals, the first of which was a free position shot to cap a string of three straight tallies for the first-year attacker.

Connolly deposited her second goal of the contest midway through the period, trimming the Owls deficit to 8-6 with 8:03 to play. However, two more Amherst goals distanced the Mammoths once again, with Petersen receiving a dish from Larsen to push the lead to two. Bridget Finley (Bronxville, N.Y.) followed by connecting on a player-up, free position shot to drive the Amherst lead up to 10-6.

The Owls would continue to fight, as Kiely Hafensteiner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) closed the third-period scoring with a goal, making it a 10-7 game after 45 minutes of play.

Cretella netted her fourth goal of the game 2:59 into the final frame, pushing her season goal total up to 24 to nudge the Owls closer in a 10-8 game.

Both teams traded scoreless possessions until Amherst eventually put the game out of reach, touched off by a beautiful give-and-go from Guttmann to Petersen at the top of the crease.

Banagan (L, 1-2) kept the Owls in the game the entire night, posting 15 saves as the Mammoths held a sizeable 32-19 shots advantage. Stole (W, 3-0) registered eight saves in the winning decision.

Cretella and Connolly combined for six of the Owls eight scores on the night. Petersen and Sosa led the offensive attack for the Mammoths with Petersen tallying four goals with Sosa right behind at three. Larsen added a goal and three assists with Kang contributing a goal and two assists.

Westfield State will travel to Springfield College in their next game on Wednesday, March 29 for a 6:00 P.M. start time. Amherst College will return home to battle Keene State on Tuesday at 6:00 P.M.