In the opening game of the season, the Jeffs were stunned by Colby College. After graduating only one senior from last year's Final Four team, the Jeffs expected to dominate much of their competition. The Mules had other ideas, and they defended their home turf with a 1-0 win.
"Losing the first game was an awakening of sorts for us," said Tri-captain Mairin Brady '02. "Colby was [a] huge game in terms of realizing who we are as a team, and what it's going to take in order to win against teams who aren't that skilled, but hustle as if there is no end to the game."
And sure enough, they didn't. After the loss to Colby, the Jeffs strung together a series of landmark victories.
The most difficult game, at least on paper was a home match against Springfield College on Sept. 18. Springfield made it to the national championship game last year, and they are always a team to be reckoned with. This did not faze the Jeffs. With a stifling defensive effort the Jeffs held Springfield to one shot in the contest, and they were able to hammer in two goals of their own. Robin Ackerman '02 scored what ended up being the game winning goal just over a minute into the first half, and Christine Ryan '04 added an insurance goal just seconds before the half ended.
"Having a strong game against Springfield really solidified the team," said Abby Ouimet '03.
The next Jeffs game was monumental for completely different reasons. Against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Jeffs cruised, scoring a school-record 10 goals in a completely lopsided performance. After scoring seven goals in the first half, the Jeffs continued the onslaught in the second period, even while playing mainly reserves.
The Jeffs continued their dominance-eventually running off eight consecutive victories-but all good things must pass, and the Jeffs fell to Middlebury College in a tough home-field battle. The Jeffs and Panthers battled to a scoreless tie in the first half, but a lucky bounce for the Panthers put them ahead early in the second frame. After a scramble in front of the net, the ball found its way into that goal, and that was all the scoring for the day: Middlebury walked away with a 1-0 win.
The Jeffs then rebounded with a solid 2-0 win over Smith College, with Ouimet tallying both goals, but it was a matchup with Williams College that was on every player's mind.
The Jeffs traveled to Williamstown last weekend to take on the Ephs, and unfortunately met with the same result as all Amherst sports teams on that day: a loss.
The Ephs dominated the flow of the game and they took a 3-0 victory over the visiting Jeffs. The Ephs took the lead with just under two minutes left in the first half and they would never relinquish it. In the second half they forced most of the play into the Amherst defensive side, and they added two more goals in the middle of the period.
In their last contest the Jeffs bounced back, beating Tufts University 1-0. Ackerman scored the lone goal of the game.
This season has had its share of outstanding performers. Ouimet leads the team with 10 goals and 22 points, and she is followed closely by Tri-captain Marcy Busch '02. The defense has been led by goalie Beth Sensing '02, who has been stellar in net, and sweeper Carlyn Lamia '03, a converted forward who taken nicely to her new defensive position.
The Jeffs finish their regular season this weekend when they host Wesleyan University on Saturday morning.
"Every NESCAC game is important and usually a hard fought battle," said Busch. "However, I think we'll come out hard and play well, and hopefully get the win."
After the showdown with the Cardinals, the Jeffs will look to earn a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. After it appeared that the Jeffs would be one of the top seeds in the NESCAC tournament, their recent losses dropped them into a third place tie in conference play, so some work will have to be done to take home a victory.
"Our recent losses to Williams and Middlebury really are good for us as now we really have to work our way back up to win the tournament," said Ouimet. "I'm confident we can do it and I know we're not going to let any team beat us twice."