In the first, an impressive 4-0 win over Smith College on Wednesday, the Jeffs dominated in the midfield, the offensive third and the defensive third. Midfielder Cathy Poor '02 netted her second career hat trick, scoring in the seventh, 24th and 70th minutes, and Heather Govern '02 added her first goal of the season to make the 4-0 final.
Against the same team that had battled the Jeffs to a scoreless overtime draw last year, Amherst controlled every facet of the game, outshooting the Pioneers 34-11.
In the second, Saturday's road opener at Bates College, the Jeffs were burdened by injury. Starting sweeper Kate Shipley '03 was sidelined with a sprained ankle, and midfielder Sara Elkins '04 was out with a foot injury.
Poor, the Jeffs' leading scorer each of her first two years, had come to Amherst as a sweeper, and Saturday's game opened with the NESCAC's top goal-scorer in the backfield.
The problem was in the midfield, where the absence of Poor and Elkins created a depth hole that Bates capitalized on.
The hosts had the better part of play in the first half, trapping the Jeffs' defense deep in their end of the field. In the 17th minute, the Bobcats nearly broke through, but Jeff goalie Brooke Diamond '03 made a diving save off a cross, keeping the game scoreless.
In the 22nd minute, Hallison Putnam '02 bested Bates goalie Kim Martell with a header off a Jenny Rossman '04 free kick, only to have the ball cleared off the endline by a Bobcat defender.
The two teams exchanged scoring chances in the 31st and 33rd minutes, but the game was scoreless at halftime.
In the second half, with Poor back in the midfield, the Jeffs' offense began to build momentum, putting together a series of scoring chances. Putnam nearly got the Jeffs on the board, but her shot skirted just over the crossbar, leaving the two teams knotted at zero.
Finally, in the 80th minute, the Bobcats broke through after a transition in the midfield. After a couple of 50-50 balls went Bates' way, sophomore Melissa Ostuni drilled a shot to the right post, just past Diamond, to give Bates the all-important one-goal lead.
"Bates played a great game in the midfield," said Morgan. "They had trouble finishing, but we gave them too many chances."
The Jeffs attempted a late rally, including a Rossman corner in the 85th minute, but came up empty, snapping a 15-game road unbeaten streak that dated back to Nov. 1, 1997.
"An early-season loss isn't an all-bad thing," said Morgan. "It gets the team to regroup, and, with the new NESCAC tournament, means little in the long term."
In the short term, however, it means that the Jeffs' could use wins in their two games this week-today's home date against Clark University and Saturday's match with Connecticut College.