The game plan last Saturday afternoon against the Salve Regina University Seahawks was simple: Amherst wanted to come out aggressively, to capitalize on its size and speed, and stifle the visitors at Hitchcock Field. The plan worked. The more athletic Lord Jeffs overpowered the Seahawks with three first-half strikes and a stingy defense en route to a resounding 4-0 season opening win.

The senior leadership of the Jeffs set the tone early. In the tenth minute of play, quad-captain forward Frank Perry '04 converted a feed from quad-captain midfielder Tim Canon '04, for an early 1-0 lead. Just seven minutes later, midfielder Christian Alexander '06 found the back of the net courtesy of an assist from midfielder Ben Lavely '06. Forward Mike Wohl '07, making his collegiate debut, netted his first career goal in the 44th minute. Forward Joe Gannon '06 was credited with the assist. Lavely added a goal of his own in the 56th minute to round out the scoring. Ian Lovett '06 got the assist.

But the scoring summary doesn't tell half of the story; Amherst dominated at all ends of the field. The Jeffs seemed to get a head on every high ball, seemed to scoop up every 50-50 ball, and when the Seahawks did manage to take possession, it was only a matter of seconds before a Jeff defender was in his face. There was no time or space for the Seahawks, just a wash of hostile white jerseys.

Goaltender Greg Lockwood '06 went largely untested during his 54 minutes between the pipes, turning away three shots for the victory. Dan Glenn '05 relieved Lockwood in the second half to preserve the shutout.

The captains were pleased by the effort put forth by the squad. "We pressured [the Seahawks] all over the field," said quad-captain defender Mike York '04. "We were just flying at them, and they didn't know what to do."

"We definitely played the kind of game we were hoping for," echoed quad-captain forward Jeff Cantwell '04. "We thought if we came at them with a lot of intensity, they wouldn't be able to handle the pressure, and it definitely showed in the first half."

With that first win out of the way for Amherst, the Jeffs can now turn their focus towards a season of conference play that begins this Saturday at Tufts University. The Jumbos will likely put up more of a fight, in what looks to be a close-fought game. Amherst won the last meeting between the two in the quarterfinal round of last year's NESCAC tournament, 2-1.