Contact: Ben Badua
AMHERST, Mass. – Just the second player in the Jeffs' modern era to surpass the 200-point plateau, Devin Acton '14 netted four goals to help lead the 17th-ranked Amherst men's lacrosse team to a decisive 18-8 victory over NESCAC rival Trinity College in its regular season finale on Gooding Field.
Extending its win streak to three while defeating Trinity for the first time since 2011, the Purple & White improved to 12-3 (7-3 NESCAC) on the season. The Bantams closed out their campaign with a 1-9 (4-11 NESCAC) overall mark. Amherst returns to action on Saturday, Apr. 26 with a NESCAC Championship quarterfinal match-up against Bowdoin.
Upping his career point total to 205, Acton is the first Jeff since Derek Cherney '07 (204) to record at least 200 points. Tallying an impressive 162 goals, Acton has scored no fewer than 35 goals in any one season, while tying a career-best with 44 markers this year.
Aaron Mathias '14 and Kane Haffey '16 each posted five goals in the win, while Quinn Moroney '16 dished out five assists. The reigning NESCAC Player of the Week, Moroney now has 86 points (21 G, 65 A) and leads the nation in assists per game, while ranking third in points per contest.
Getting off to a slow start, Amherst found itself down 2-0 just 2:37 after the opening faceoff thanks to a pair of Gus Ackley '17 and James O'Connell '15 goals. Ackley needed just 13 seconds to open up the scoring, while O'Connell doubled the visitors' margin by converting a Terence Olsen '14 feed at 12:23.
Acton put the Jeffs on the board with a wrap-around goal inside of the 10-minute mark before a pair of man-up Mathias tallies gave the Purple & White their first lead of the afternoon. Seth Bird '16 quickly answered on the other end however, as the Bantams accounted for a two of the quarter's final three scores.
Tied at 4-4 after the opening period it was all Amherst in the second. Haffey and Acton got things going with a pair of goals less than four minutes apart before Mathias notched his third of the day. Haffey kept things rolling with consecutive scores before a Patrick Moroney '14 marker just 23 seconds after Haffey's latest capped off a 6-0 Jeff spurt.
Hoping to switch the momentum after the intermission, O'Connell cut the deficit to 10-5 at the 10:03 mark of the third quarter, but the Jeffs came right back with seven unanswered to blow the game open. Jumpstarting the run, Quinn Moroney assisted on consecutive Haffey, Mathias and Acton goals, with the last helper at the 14:11 mark of the fourth helping Acton pass Cherney. Mathias, Haffey, Matt Killian '17 and Chris Albanese '17 padded the cushion with four more goals over a span of 4:19 to extend the Amherst margin to 17-5.
Matthew Huack '15 paced Trinity with three goals and an assist, while O'Connell had a pair of scores. Four different goalkeepers saw time for the Bantams, with Derek Koelsch '15 taking the loss. Mickey Zaverucha '15 recorded a team-high six saves, while Riley Cahill '15 had five stops. Amherst netminder Greg Majno '14 finished with six saves in the win.
Winning 21-of-29 faceoffs, the Jeffs held a decisive 47-27 shot advantage and 39-30 edge in ground balls. Going a 3-for-3 on man-up opportunities, the Jeffs have now scored eight goals in seven man advantages over their last two games.