Earlier in the season, Middlebury visited Orr Rink and walked away with a controversial 1-0 victory. Tri-captain Darce Swaggert '01 appeared to score a goal for the Jeffs early in the third period, which would have given the Jeffs the lead, but it was disallowed because he was ruled to be in the crease. The Jeffs then allowed a power play goal six minutes later and the Panthers escaped with the victory. In the game, Nick Rieser '01 was exceptional in goal, stopping 35 of the 36 Middlebury shots.
This time the Jeffs had to travel to Middlebury to take on the Panthers in a non-league game. Middlebury won five straight NCAA Championships before failing to do so last year, and this year they are ranked number one in the country.
This time the outcome was much the same as the Jeffs fell to the Panthers by a final of 6-3. Tri-captain Chris Orszulak '01 led the Jeffs with two goals in the contest.
"Against Middlebury we hoped to bring momentum in from our play over the weekend," said Rob Hill '01. "We had seen them before, and we knew how they play."
Against Salem State College last Friday the Jeffs took a 3-2 victory.
Salem-the top-ranked team in the ECAC East division-got on the board first with a goal less than two minutes into the opening period. Adam Hackett, Salem's leading goal scorer, tallied the goal.
The Jeffs answered on the power play early in the second period. Jim Smith '01 added the equalizer, but the Jeffs could not hold their lead for long.
Salem answered quickly. David Paris netted the goal that gave the home squad a 2-1 lead.
From there the Jeffs took control of the game. Darren Reaume '02 and Hill added goals for the Jeffs in the second period, and the Jeffs held on by that margin. Rieser had 21 saves in the contest.
"We never let down against Salem," said Hill. "After they scored a goal early, we dominated the rest of the first period. We never doubted that we would win the game."
On Saturday afternoon, the Jeffs faced the University of Southern Maine, and they wasted no time in taking the lead.
Six minutes into the first period Dave Moore '02 gave the Jeffs an advantage that they would never relinquish. Bob Miele '02 added a goal-his 10th of the season-later in the first, and the Jeffs took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period neither team was able to score, but in the third frame the Jeffs exploded for four goals.
John McNicholas '04 tallied an unassisted goal to lead off the period for the Jeffs.
Just over a minute later Greg Carr '02 scored the first of his two goals in the period. Miele and Reaume assisted on the score. Three minutes later Miele again fed Carr, with Tri-captain Gregg DiNardo '01 also receiving credit for a helper.
Smith finished off the scoring with an unassisted goal-his team-leading 11th of the season-with under nine minutes remaining.
"We were disappointed with how we played in the second period," said Hill. "We wanted to play well in our final period of play on the weekend."
In net Rieser made 13 saves for his first shutout of the season.
This weekend the Jeffs have two big NESCAC matchups when Bowdoin and Colby Colleges come to visit.
Bowdoin, who Amherst will take on Friday at 7:00 p.m., is currently sixth in the NESCAC with an 10-7-1 record. The Polar Bears are led by Chris Pelletier and Sean Starke. Pelletier leads the team with 14 goals on the season, and Starke has added ten more.
On Saturday at 3:00 p.m., the Jeffs will drop the puck against the Colby White Mules. Colby is third in the league with a record of 12-6-1.
The White Mules have a balanced scoring attack, and they are also coming off of a tough loss to Middlebury. This game will likely go far in deciding the seedings of the inaugural NESCAC Tournament.