"We left the field on Saturday thinking that we blew it," said Co-captain Mairin Brady '02. "We had such a great season, but to have it end like that ..." Fortunately, Brady did not have to finish her thought, because the 18-team field for this year's NCAA championship tournament, announced very late on Sunday night, included the Amherst squad for the third time in its program history-and the second time in two years.
The 18-team field, which includes 10 automatic bids, six independent spots, and two spaces for at-large berths, includes-somewhat surprisingly-three NESCAC teams, with Amherst and Williams taking the two at-large bids along with NESCAC conference champion Bowdoin.
The Ephs travel south to Rowan, New Jersey for a Saturday semifinal game against Ithaca College, while the Polar Bears travel to Springfield for a Saturday showdown against the Pride. Amherst, however, gets to remain in the friendly confines of the Pioneer Valley, hosting a regional tournament for the first time in program history.
Though the location is new, the foe in Saturday's regional semifinal is not. Cortland State, a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, will be out for revenge against the Amherst squad, which knocked the Red Dragons out of the NCAA tournament last year with a dominating 2-0 win in the national semifinal round at the College of New Jersey.
Saturday's other regional semifinal pits William Smith College-one of the tournament's top seeds-against the winner of Wednesday's first round game between New England College and Plymouth State College. The winner of that semifinal meets the winner of the Amherst/Cortland State matchup on Hitchcock Field on Sunday to determine who goes to the Final Four.
First, however, the Jeffs have to focus on the Red Dragons.
Cortland State comes into Saturday's game with a 12-4 record, with three of their four losses coming by one goal to teams in the NCAA field. A pair of sophomores-forwards Julie Gentner and Stacey Russell-lead the Red Dragon attack, combining for 16 goals and six assists on the season.
Senior Tori Brown anchored the Red Dragon midfield with a six-goal, three-assist season, and junior Becky Gillette has been stellar between the pipes, allowing nine goals in 16 games.
Amherst's leading scorer on the season, Abby Ouimet '03, said that the Jeffs are confident about their chances. "The Cortland game is really important to us. It's a second chance for us to go to NCAAs," she said. "It's a boost after losing to Williams."
"Cortland is a different team than they were last year, but I think we're pretty confident about our chances," she continued.
"We're not taking any of these teams lightly," said Brady. "But I think we all feel the same way ... going to the Final Four last year was something very special for all of us, for the sophomores, juniors and for [Co-captain] Gretchen [Bowe '01], we all want to get back there, and this is going to be an amazing, exciting weekend." The outlook wasn't brilliant on the way back from Bowdoin on Saturday afternoon, but it is safe to say that it is quite a bit brighter now.
The Jeffs and Cortland face off at 2:00 p.m. on Hitchcock Field on Saturday, after William Smith faces the winner of New England/Plymouth State at 11:00 a.m. The
regional championship, also slated for Hitchcock Field, will be held on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. This marks the first time Amherst has hosted the regionals in any sport since the 1997 Metro women's soccer
regional.