AMHERST, MA – The top-ranked Amherst College women's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of still undefeated Salisbury University, 11-4 this afternoon on the campus of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO.

Amherst jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the game on an unassisted goal from senior Alyssa Briody (Hopewell, NJ) 6:51 into the first half. The Sea Gulls responded with 4 unanswered goals of their own over a span of 3:21 to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

Senior Lauren Dudley (Baltimore, MD) responded with her third goal of the season to close the gap to two goals, with sophomore Mary Noonan (West Roxbury, MA) recording the assist.

Salisbury scored their fifth goal of the game just before halftime, to stretch the deficit back to three goals, and Amherst would never get any closer than that. While Amherst played well getting the ball up the field, successfully clearing on 12-of-14 attempts, turnovers were a killer for the Jeffs who committed 20 in the game.

Briody led Amherst with another hat trick, and is off to a stellar start this season with 4 goals and 4 assists after just 2 games. Junior Linda McEvoy (Rochester, NY) made 10 saves in net for Amherst, while Natalie Pappas made 6 saves for the Sea Gulls.

Salisbury moves to 8-0 with the win, while Amherst drops to 1-1 on the season, and will likely lose their number one ranking. The Lord Jeffs return to the action when they play against host Colorado College tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm. (MST).

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Salisbury University women's lacrosse team made its first-ever appearance in the state of Colorado a memorable one as the No. 8 Sea Gulls defeated No. 2 Amherst College 11-4 on Monday afternoon at Colorado College. Salisbury (8-0) was led by junior Sue Ackermann who scored three goals and passed out two assists in the win.

Amherst (1-1) scored the first goal of the game at the 23:09 mark. From there the Sea Gulls went on a 4-0 run and never looked back as it led 5-2 at the half and outscored the Lady Jeffs 6-2 in the second half.

This is the first time the two teams have met in five years. In 2002, the Lady Jeffs defeated the Sea Gulls in Salisbury, 12-6. In that regular-season match up Amherst was ranked No. 2 in the country.

SU freshman goalie Natalie Pappas played the entire game and made six saves in between the pipes for the Gulls. Seniors Katie Simmons, Natalie Degele and Stephanie Shores added two goals apiece in the win. Sophomore Robyn Bishop and freshman Beth Rhodey scored a goal each to cap off the SU scoring.

The Sea Gulls out shot the Lady Jeffs 27-14 (13-5 in the second half) and SU scooped up 17 groundballs in the win. The two teams were about equal on draw controls as Amherst won 9-of-17.

Salisbury remains in the Rocky Mountain state for the rest of the week before facing Colorado College on Friday, March, 23, at 11:00 a.m. (MST).

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Score by Period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  2  2 -  4
Salisbury...........  5  6 - 11
 
Amherst SCORING:
GOALS: Amy Craig 3; Tyler Tory-Murphy 1.
ASSISTS: Rachel Lewis 1.
 
Salisbury SCORING:
GOALS: Sue Ackermann 3; Stephanie Shores 2; Katie Simmons 2;
       Natalie Degele 2; Robyn Bishop 1; Beth Rhodey 1.
ASSISTS: Sue Ackermann 2; Stephanie Shores 1; Katie Simmons 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  9  5 - 14
Salisbury........... 14 13 - 27
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  5  9 - 14
Salisbury...........  7 10 - 17
 
DRAW CONTROLS BY PRD  1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  2  7 -  9
Salisbury...........  6  2 -  8
 
FREE-POSITION SHOTS    1     2     Total
-------------------------------------
Amherst.............  0-2   1-2  -  1-4
Salisbury...........  1-2   1-1  -  2-3
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  6  4 - 10
Salisbury...........  3  3 -  6
 
FOULS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  5  7 - 12
Salisbury...........  5  9 - 14
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Amherst.............  8 12 - 20
Salisbury........... 10  5 - 15

2007-03-19