"It was one of the first times we were challenged as a team," said co-captain Kay Bradley '04. "We have a lot of individual talent; we just need to keep working together."
The Camels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when sophomore Maggie Driscoll rebounded a shot off the crossbar in the 16th minute and sailed the ball past Jeffs' rookie goaltender, Piper Crowell '07. Driscoll, one of the Camels' many talented underclassmen, also tallied an assist on the second goal of the game, setting up senior Emily Shelton for a one-timer in the 34th minute.
The second half saw more of the same, as Conn. scored again in the 65th minute on a breakaway by Kelly Roman, giving them a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Jeffs avoided a shutout in the 70th minute, when junior Ashley Harmeling beat Camel goalie Kyle Ridgeway for Harmeling's first goal of the season and 10th career goal for the Jeffs.
Crowell made five saves in her Amherst debut and is the first Jeff first-year goalie to start the season opener since Brooke Diamond '03 in 1999. Two Camel goalies combined for only three saves as the Jeffs struggled to mount any offense against a stingy Camel defense.
"Piper is a great goalie. She's a first year, so it's tough coming in as a freshman, but she's amazing, and we have confidence in her and all of our goalies," said Bradley.
Amherst continues its five-game road trip this week at Smith College today and Tufts University on Saturday.
"I don't think it will be hard to come back from this loss," Bradley said. "It's always frustrating to lose the first game of the season, but we have confidence that we'll bounce back and play better in our future games."