Against Norwich University, one of the top teams in the nation, the Jeffs faced an uphill battle. Facing many obstacles going into the game, the Jeffs played on the road against a top-notch national team. It was the hardest competition the Jeffs have faced thus far. Unfortunately, the game could not have worked out much worse for the Jeffs.
"We expected a much better showing than what happened," said Justin Jagher '03. "It was a combination of us playing poorly and them playing well but, nonetheless, it was just really disappointing."
Norwich dominated the early going of the game and jumped out to a six-goal lead by the middle of the third period. After an Amherst penalty midway through the first period, it took Norwich only 20 seconds to convert on the power play, and they added the eventual game-winning goal nine minutes later.
During the second period, Norwich added another goal, but it was in the third period that Norwich took over the game. In a three-minute span early in the final period, Norwich tallied three more goals, sealing the victory.
After a minor brawl with just under a minute to play in the final period, marred by seven penalties including a game misconduct, Bob Miele '02 tallied a power-play goal to get the Jeffs on the scoreboard. Miele was assisted by John McNicholas '04 and Mike Kreger '04 on the goal.
"When we went to Norwich, we believed we could beat them, even in their rink," said Erik DiNardo '03. "They played a complete 60 minute game while we showed up for probably 20 minutes at most."
Norwich outshot the Jeffs 52 to 23 on the way to the 6-1 victory. But all was not lost on the road trip, because the Jeffs were able to rebound the next afternoon when they took on St. Michael's College.
St. Mike's got on the board first, scoring only 50 seconds into the game. But the Jeffs were able to counter with a goal of their own just four minutes later. Scott Aldrich '05 tallied the first Amherst score of the game off assists from Bill Jenkins '05 and co-captain Greg Carr '02.
But St. Mike's added two more goals by the middle of the period, taking a short-lived 3-1 lead. DiNardo single-handedly got the Jeffs back in the game by scoring a pair of goals late in the period. Beau Kretzman '05 assisted on both goals, while Miele and Erich Schram '03 each added an assist.
"After being down 3-1, we still knew we were better, so we kept on doing exactly what the game plan was and, soon after, we battled back to win the game," said DiNardo.
In the second period, neither team was able to take the advantage, but it was St. Mike's that got on the board first. Continuing a theme of the early season, Amherst was victimized by a penalty as they allowed a power-play goal to fall behind.
Kretzman continued his strong play by equalizing the score with just six seconds remaining before the second intermission. Jenkins added his second assist of the day on the play.
In the third period, the Jeffs finally put the game away. Carr notched an unassisted goal just under two minutes into the period, the game winner, and McNicholas added an insurance goal just over two minutes later.
"The win against St. Mike's was big," said Jagher. "We needed at least two points this weekend and we managed to get them with a great third period."
The Jeffs have a number of difficult upcoming games, including matchups against Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Plattsburgh and Elmira Colleges. RIT and Plattsburgh met in last year's national title game, with RIT losing for the first time all season; Elmira is another nationally ranked opponent.
"Everyone is starting to come into their own and we all just need to play a little harder and with a little more sense of urgency," said DiNardo. "In our next games there is no room for error."