On Thursday the Jeffs headed to Mount Holyoke to face the Lyons. The Amherst offense was again led by Tri-captain Marcy Busch '02 and scoring machine Abigail Ouimet '03 in their 4-2 victory.
Amherst opened the scoring minutes into the game, as Busch found the back of the net for her first goal of the day. The two teams took a 1-1 tie into the second half, until Busch found Ouimet in front of the net. Ouimet converted, slipping her first goal of the season.
Only minutes later, Busch would again be the catalyst as she took a feed from Tri-captain Mairin Brady '02 and tallied what would be the game-winning goal for the Jeffs. With seconds left in the half, Mount Holyoke again broke through to make the score 3-2, however but Mount Holyoke's fate with a late unassisted goal with only 14 ticks left on the clock.
In the tilt against the 12th-ranked Polar Bears of Bowdoin, Busch continued to swing the hot stick as she again lifted the Jeffs to victory with her first period goal, the only score of the game. Defender Carlyn Lamia '03 had the assist. Though Bowdoin threatened early with two strong scoring chances, Amherst turned it around and dominated play the rest of the first half. From then on out neither team could muster enough to score, as both defenses performed superbly. Bowdoin goalie Gillian McDonald made a spectacular save on a Molly O'Connor '03 shot, sacrificing herself and suffering an injury on the play. Her replacement was not tested, and as time expired the Jeffs had their sixth straight win, 1-0.
"Bowdoin's always a tough game because of the rivalry and everything and. We were ready to play a tough opponent," said Jeff keeper Beth Sensing '02.
Monday Amherst played host to non-NESCAC foe MIT in a make-up game from earlier in the season. Some young talent saw extended time on the field for the Amherst side and proved to be more than a match for the visitors, outshooting the Engineers by a staggering 37 shots to one. In what turned out to be a completely one-sided affair, newcomer Lauren Anderson '05 led the way with bookend goals to begin and end the Amherst offensive outburst. With 25:25 left in the first half, she received a feed from Brady and put it home to score her first career goal as a Jeff.
Just three minutes later the swarming offense put another goal in, this time from defender Laurie Smith '02. Robin Ackerman '02 would follow minutes later with her addition to the Amherst cause, pushing the score to 3-0. Erin Layden '05 also scored the first mark of her career off a feed from Jenna Obelsky '03 with 7:11 to go in the first half. In the second half Anderson capped the scoring with her second goal, an unassisted shot only a minute and a half into the second.
Sensing has a league-best 0.56 goals against average, and Jeff forwards Busch and Ouimet are also leading league scorers, third and fourth in the NESCAC. With only six games left in the regular season, the streaking Jeffs may already be thinking about a third postseason appearance. "I think we've been playing really well, and if we keep playing like we're playing, we can make the postseason," said Sensing.
Chances are however, the Jeffs have sights set squarely on the task at hand, namely upcoming league games against Trinity College, Middlebury College, Tufts University and Williams College.
"Our next game is against Trinity, and historically, we've always done well, so I think we're looking for a win," Sensing said. "They've actually been playing pretty well lately. I think they beat Williams last week. But I think if we keep playing like we have we can win."