AMHERST, Mass. – The Connecticut College women's lacrosse team hung tough, but fell on the road to No. 5 Amherst 15-4 on Wednesday evening from Gooding Field.

The teams traded a possession each to start, but Amherst struck first three minutes into the quarter off a tally from Emily Peterson. Both defenses continued their strong starts, before Bridget Finley made it 2-0 at 6:23. Conn got on the board with 2:41 remaining as Hannah Prescott (North Attleboro, Mass.) connected with Kate Coughlin (Reading, Mass.) who fired home to make it 2-1 after one.

The Mammoths started quickly in the second quarter, finding the back of the net three times in the opening four minutes to extend the lead to 5-1. With eight and a half minutes left, Ava Virga (Watertown, N.Y.) made a save on a free-position shot, before Hannah Merritt (Cheshire, Conn.) went coast-to-coast to make it 5-2. Amherst responded with the final two goals of the quarter to take a 7-2 lead into the break.

Amherst tallied the first three goals of the second half, with Peterson tallying all three to push the lead to 10-2. Conn did not go away quietly, as the Camels responded with back-to-back markers.

With just under seven minutes left, Prescott again found Coughlin who scored, before Campbell Johnston (Duxbury, Mass.) finished off a pass from Elizabeth Gill (Hingham, Mass.) to make it 10-4. The Mammoths answered with the final two goals of the quarter to lead 12-4 heading to the fourth.

Amherst finished off the game tallying the final three goals to come away with the 15-4 win.

Amherst outshot Conn 28-12, while holding an 18-4 advantage on draw controls.

Virga got the start in the cage, finishing with eight saves. Coughlin and Prescott led the way offensively with two points each, on two goals and two assists respectively. Johnston and Merritt both chipped in a goal, while Gill added an assist.

Defensively, Conn scooped up 11 ground balls and forced 10 turnovers. Kate Sullivan (Westwood, Mass.) led the Camels in both categories, with three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Merritt and Talia Metz-Topodas (Berwyn, Pa.) both added two ground balls, while Anna Sawyer (Easthampton, Mass.) forced two turnovers, with Coughlin corralling a team-high two draws.

Lily Samoska got the win in goal, finishing with one save in three quarters of play, while Jessye Salmon closed out the game with two saves. Peterson and Bridget Darcy led Amherst with seven points each, while six other Mammoths tallied at least one point.

Conn (2-8, 0-7 NESCAC) returns to action on Saturday as the Camels host Bates at 12:00 p.m. from Cadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy.