AMHERST, Mass. – Krista Zsitvay scored four goals to lead the Amherst women's lacrosse team to a 9-4 win over Bowdoin in NESCAC action Saturday at Pratt Field.

11th-ranked Amherst improved to 3-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in the conference. With the loss, 12th-ranked Bowdoin drops to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Five different Bowdoin players factored into the scoring while Betsy Sachs led the team in groundballs (3) and added a score. Lindsay Picard finished with a goal and two groundballs.

Amherst controlled the opening half, outshooting the Polar Bears 11-2. Zsitvay got things started when the senior captain put the Jeffs ahead 1-0 roughly seven minutes into the game. She was assisted by Meghan Mills on the play. Less than two minutes later, Amherst increased its lead to two when Caroline Holliday found the back of the net unassisted.

Shortly after, Bowdoin cut the deficit to one when Picard tossed in the first Polar Bear score of the game. However, Amherst tacked on two more scores before the break. In the closing seconds, Zsitvay dodged a Bowdoin defender for the Jeffs fourth score with :14 left to take a 4-1 lead at the half.

The Jeffs scored at the 25:58 mark of the second half to increase their lead to four. Elizabeth Ludlow dished it to classmate Alex Philie as the senior tossed it to the bottom right corner. Two minutes later, Bowdoin scored its second of the game on a goal from Jordan Smith and cut the deficit to two at the 19:27 mark when Sachs sent one past Jeffs goalie Christy Forrest.

Amherst and Bowdoin exchanged the next two goals. Zsitvay added her third of the game at 15:43 when a pass was deflected around in the air and eventually landed in the net of the senior's stick as she quickly fired it into the net. The Polar Bears answered two minutes later when Megan O'Connor scored on a free-position shot.

However, it was all Amherst the rest of the way as the Jeffs tacked on three more scores to cruise to a 9-6 victory. Amherst outshot Bowdoin 22-13 and held a 15-8 advantage in groundballs.

The Polar Bears will look to return to the win column on Tuesday night with a non-conference game at Endicott at 7:00 p.m.