Contact: Mike O'Brien
AMHERST, Mass. – Senior captain Krista Zsitvay tallied five goals on just six shots to lead the 11th-ranked Amherst women's lacrosse team to a decisive 16-2 win over Babson College in its 2014 home opener at Gooding Field.
Following the win, the Jeffs improve to 2-0 overall to start the season while dropping the Beavers to 0-2. Wednesday night's game was the first meeting between the two teams since the 2008 season when Amherst defeated Babson, 12-8.
Zsitvay scored four of her five goals in the first half and led the team with four draw controls as well. Alex Philie '14, Rachel Passarelli '16 and Mia Haughton '16 all scored two goals for Amherst while five others added one each. Caroline Holliday '14 led the team in assists with three and added two groundballs.
Rachel Secrist '15 scored twice for Babson and was unassisted on both scores. Caitlin Shaughnessy '17 led the team with two groundballs.
Amherst set the tempo early and often and jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:53 into play with an unassisted score from Philie. Just 39 seconds later, Zsitvay tacked on the Jeffs second score of the game with an assist from Heath Cockrell '15.
The Jeffs continued to rack up points, scoring six times within the first 10 minutes. With 12:13 remaining until the break, Zsitvay scored her fourth of the game to put Amherst ahead 10-0. Passarelli and Devin O'Conner '16 scored two more times to give the Jeffs a 12-0 lead at halftime.
With a decisive lead, Amherst played keep-away for most of the second half. The Beavers applied some offensive pressure late in regulation, adding two goals on six shots but the lead was too large to overcome as the Jeffs pulled away with the decisive victory.
Sophomore goalie Christy Forrest picked up the win for Amherst and stopped two shots. Julie Baharestani '14 played in net for Babson and recorded nine saves in the losing effort.
The Jeffs return to the field Saturday, Mar. 8 and will host Bowdoin at 12 p.m.