Amherst had a chance to secure its place in the tournament with a win on Saturday against Hamilton College, but the visiting Continentals came away with a 5-2 victory. After a scoreless first period, Hamilton surged ahead with four unanswered goals. Forwards Leah Kaplan '06 and Ali White '04 tallied for the Jeffs in the third period, but Amherst didn't have enough to overcome the deficit.
The Amherst power play struggled again, going 0-7 while allowing two shorthanded goals. The power play has been a problem all season long, converting on just three of 67 chances. In fact, the Jeffs have been more effective scoring at even-strength this season than with the player advantage. On average, Amherst has scored one goal every 44.7 minutes on the power play, compared to one goal every 34.9 minutes at even-strength.
The Jeffs were also in action last Wednesday against a non-conference foe, the College of the Holy Cross. On the strength of goals from forwards White, Renee Sisti '06 and co-captain Danielle Williams '03, Amherst earned the 3-1 win over a tough Crusader squad. Co-captain goalie Heidi Alexander '03 turned aside 24 of 25 Holy Cross shots for the win.
Now the Jeffs must turn their attention towards Middlebury, a once invincible Div. III powerhouse that has lost some of its luster in the past year. Things started going poorly for the Panthers in the 2002 NESCAC tournament when Williams College stunned Middlebury 2-1 in the semifinal round. Bowdoin College went on to defeat Williams and win the inaugural tournament.
The Middlebury slide has carried over into NESCAC play this year, leading many to believe that the Jeffs have a good chance to take out the Panthers. After winning their first eight conference games, Middlebury has gone 4-0-4 the rest of the way, including a tie with 4-10-2 Wesleyan University on Feb. 8. Although they are ranked fourth in a national poll, Middlebury has vulnerabilities that Amherst could exploit.
"This year they've really been shaken up," said White. "They're an extremely formidable opponent but not one that's invincible. We're more confident going into this game than we've ever been against Midd. before."
Leading the way for the Jeffs will be Williams, who leads the team with nine goals and 10 assists. White, who has notched three goals in as many games, is second on the team with nine points. Forward Tory Serues '04 and Sisti, who leads the freshmen in scoring, each have six points.
The Jeffs will have to contend with a potent Middlebury attack that has scored 111 goals this season. With 16 goals and 33 assists, senior forward Angela Kapus is NESCAC's leading scorer. Senior defender Amber Neil has scored a whopping 19 goals from the blue line, making her the second leading goal scorer in all of NESCAC. Alexander and the rest of the Jeffs' defense will certainly have their hands full against Middlebury. But White thinks a new defensive system might stifle the Middlebury attack. "Midd. plays a very, very specific style of offense, and if we can shut them down, it should be a good game," said White.
The date of the game between the Jeffs and Panthers should be a good omen for the Jeffs, because it was on March 1, 2002, one year earlier, that Williams did the unthinkable and defeated Middlebury in the NESCAC tournament. Maybe this Saturday will bring a little March Madness again, but this time for the Jeffs.