A disappointing 2-1 loss to Connecticut College on Sunday will most likely end the women's soccer team's season prematurely. The defending NESCAC champions entered the NESCAC Tournament as the fourth seed, but were playing some of their best soccer of the year. Having gone unbeaten over their last six games, the Jeffs felt as though they had as much momentum as any team in the conference and were prepared to make a run at another NESCAC title as well as another trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Jeffs managed only a double-overtime tie against Trinity College on Saturday, the last game of the regular season, leaving them with a 8-4-2 (5-2-2) record, but were determined to wipe the slate clean and think of the postseason as a whole new chapter.

Trinity scored first against Amherst in the regular season finale in the 21st minute, as Nicole Mauger beat Amherst goaltender Brooke Diamond '03 for a early 1-0 lead. The Jeffs responded only 15 minutes later as Ashley Harmeling '05 took a pass from classmate Adrienne Showler '05 to even the score at 1-1. The goal was Harmeling's team-leading eighth of the season. Both teams clamped down on defense in the second half and both overtimes, shutting down scoring chance after scoring chance. Diamond finished the afternoon with five saves, while her Trinity counterpart, Brenna Shields, denied 11 Amherst shots on goal.

Less than 24 hours after playing 110 minutes of soccer against Trinity, the Jeffs were forced to return to action the next day in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament against a Conn College team looking for revenge. The Jeffs handed Conn a 2-0 loss back on Sept. 8, in the season opener for both teams and knew what to expect from the Camels.

"I didn't think they changed that much [from the beginning of the season], but we had changed a lot as a team," said freshman defender Lyn Wojcik. The Camels came out fired up and dominated the first half of play, forcing the Jeffs to fight off relentless offensive attacks. The Jeffs seemed a little tired and sluggish, quite possibly feeling the effects of playing back-to-back games for the first time all season. With about 17 minutes left in the first half, Lauren Luciano lofted a shot over the head of Diamond and into the back of the net, giving Conn the only goal of the first half.

In the second half, the Jeffs seemed rejuvenated, ready to make a statement that they were not going to roll over and quit. After a few missed opportunities early in the half, the Jeffs took advantage of a Camel mistake and tied the game at one. Harmeling was credited with her ninth goal of the season when the Conn goalie, Paige Diamond, misplayed the ball after it ricocheted off a Camel defender.

With the score knotted at 1-1, both teams began playing with a sense of urgency. With just under nine minutes left, however, Conn's Christa Thoeresz destroyed Amherst's dreams of back-to-back NESCAC titles when she blasted a shot past Diamond, scoring the eventual game-winning goal.

"We didn't play our best against Trinity, but we came back and were really pumped up for Connecticut," said Wojcik. "We had a lot of momentum, but things just didn't go our way."

The Jeffs now await the final results of the NESCAC Tournament and will hope that their success in last year's NCAA Tournament will sway the NCAA selection committee into giving them a chance to play in this year's National Championship Tournament.