On opening night, Amherst traveled to Wellesley, Mass. to take on Babson College. The Beavers defeated the Jeffs 4-1. Although the final score suggests a blowout, the contest was close for most of the game.
The Beavers dominated the opening period, scoring on a power play just over eight minutes into the game.
"Babson is a quick team," said forward Erik Dinardo '03, "and they came out flying."
Babson quickly added to the lead, putting another puck past Amherst goalie Justin Jagher '03 less than four minutes later. Babson outshot Amherst 11-4 in the opening period.
In the second period, the Jeffs controlled much of the play, holding the Beavers to only nine shots and cutting the deficit in half with a power play goal 14:02 into the period when forward Jon Hill '05 converted on a feed from forward Mike Kreger '04.
In the third period, despite a number of scoring opportunities for the Jeffs, the Beavers again pierced the scoring column. Junior forward Chris Mansfield tallied his first goal of the season to give the Beavers a two-goal cushion. In the final minutes, Babson added a shorthanded empty-net goal to seal the victory.
The next day, the Jeffs showed no signs of a post-loss hangover, dismantling UMass-Boston, 8-1, for their first win of the season. The special teams played particularly well, as the power play unit scored two goals and the penalty kill unit added a pair as well.
Forward Beau Kretzman '05 started the scoring late in a relatively quiet first period. With just 26 seconds left in the period, Kretzman found the back of the net, assisted by forward Steve Nelson '06 for the first points of his college career and defenseman John McNicholas '04.
In the second period, the Jeffs blew the game wide open with four goals. Hill added his second goal of the season seven minutes into the period. The Jeffs never looked back. Kretzman completed the hat trick with his second and third goals of the game, sandwiched around a tally by Kreger, both on the power play.
In the final period, the Jeffs had their only hiccup of the game, allowing a goal ten seconds in, but they added three more before the end of play. Kretzman tallied his fourth goal of the game, this time shorthanded. Forward Jack Greeley '06 and Nelson tallied the final two scores.
Goalkeeper Jaffrie Perotti '03 recorded the victory for the Jeffs, making 15 stops in net.
After a brief break for Thanksgiving, the Jeffs returned to the ice this past weekend, hosting the Ben McCabe '52 Tournament. Despite the home-ice advantage, they were unable come away with any wins.
In their first game, the Jeffs were on the wrong side of a 10-0 whitewashing. The Jeffs played poorly and ran into a hot goaltender for the Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Wentworth's Raj Bhangoo made 34 saves in the shutout victory, including an astounding 21 in the second period alone.
The next day the Jeffs had a chance to rebound against league foe Trinity College in a non-league matchup. The Bantams, coming off an 8-3 defeat to eventual tournament winner SUNY-Oswego, were ranked 14th in the country coming into the weekend, and were also looking to reverse their fortunes.
The Jeffs opened the scoring in the first period with a power play goal by DiNardo. Kretzman started the play with a pass across the ice to Nelson, whose shot was saved by the Trinity goalie, but DiNardo grabbed the rebound and slammed it past the netminder.
Later in the period, Kretzman scored his fifth goal of the season with a shorthanded goal, largely set up by a Hill breakaway. The Amherst lead was sliced in half midway through the second frame, but a minute later, defenseman and captain Erich Schram '03 scored on a slapshot from the point.
In the third period the Bantams staged a furious rally, led by sophomore forward Ryan Stevens's two goals to tie the game. However, the Jeffs regained the lead on Kretzman's second goal of the game. The Bantams then scored the equalizer with just over a minute left in the period.
The Jeffs survived a scare in overtime, as the Bantams tallied seven shots and had a five-on-three power play in the waning moments of the period, but neither team was able to score, and the game ended in a 4-4 tie.
The Jeffs return to the ice this weekend with two non-conference games. They first take on national power Norwich University, a "chance for us to measure up against a good team," said Schram. Then on Saturday Amherst, faces off against St. Michael's College in their sixth game of the year.