In a nailbiter for the brave fans traveling all the way to Brunswick, Maine, Bowdoin got on the scoreboard 30 minutes into the first half and gave the hosts a 1-0 lead. However, Amherst answered back fairly quickly in the 37th minute when sophomore forward Joaquin Walker took a feed from freshman phenom Joe Gannon for his fifth goal of the year to even the score at one apiece going into the halftime break.
Both teams played fairly evenly in the second half. Amherst took control of the game and was able to get more shots on goal, but had difficulty scoring. The tie was finally broken with two minutes remaining in the contest, when forward Franklin Perry '04 threaded a pass to midfielder Chris Kane '03, who blasted a shot in the back of the net for the Jeffs' victory. Freshman goalkeeper Greg Lockwood, last week's NESCAC Player of the Week, was again solid in the net for the Jeffs, finishing with nine saves in the contest.
"Chris Kane gave us a hugely motivating speech before the Bowdoin game in which he simply said, 'no flat,'" said defender Roger Boulay '03 of his fellow captain. "This really pumped us up and helped us upset the number one seed."
With the win, the Lord Jeffs extended their red-hot winning streak to nine games and earned the right to face archrival and second-seeded Williams College the following day in the NESCAC Tournament finals. Williams was down a goal to Middlebury College in the other semifinal game the entire contest, but miraculously scored with three seconds left in regulation and again in sudden death overtime to advance to the finals. Amherst played Williams for the first time two weeks ago, when they dominated Williams throughout the match and went on to win 3-0.
But the Ephs came ready to face the Jeffs this time and, while Amherst had difficulty creating scoring opportunities, Williams was able to capitalize on theirs. After a fairly evenly played first stanza, Williams pierced the scoring column with five minutes remaining in the half when junior forward Khari Stephenson rocketed a shot from way out into the upper left corner to give the Ephs the advantage at the break, despite being out-shot 11-4.
Williams scored again only a minute into the second half, when midfielder Josh Bolton took a feed from Ryan Olsen and blasted a shot into the back of the net to extend their lead to two. The Ephs rounded out the scoring in the 72nd minute when Alex Blake lofted a shot over Jeff netminder Dan Glenn to bring the score to 3-0, snapping the Jeffs late season winning streak. Goalkeeper Dan Glenn '05, starting in place of Lockwood, who was injured during the Bowdoin game, finished with seven saves. Williams netminders Nick Armington and Robert Kirsher combined for seven saves as well.
"Though we ended up losing in the finals on Sunday, this weekend helped us tremendously as a team," said senior captain Carlo Valdesolo. "Against Bowdoin we played unbelievably well, prompting a coach from another NESCAC team to say that it was the finest performance that he had seen in a long time. Against Williams we learned a valuable lesson that has only made us stronger going into the NCAAs. Opportunities mustn't be squandered. Especially against the best teams in the country. If we are unable to finish it is only a matter of time before it comes back to haunt us. The loss was almost a blessing in that it rekindled our focus and determination for the NCAAs."
After the two games this weekend, the Jeffs now stand at 12-4-1 and are ranked second regionally and 14th nationally in the latest polls. Despite not winning the NESCAC Tournament, the Jeffs still earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Because of their high ranking, Amherst also earned a bye in the first round and will play their first game this coming Saturday against SUNY-Cortland at St. Lawrence University in New York.