"I can say that I truly believe that was the most evenly-matched, well-played Williams-Amherst game I've ever seen," said co-captain Molly Jacobs '04. Both teams played extremely well; the contest could have gone either way. Unfortunately, the Jeffs wound up on the losing end.
"It's always really fun to play Williams because of the rivalry and because it's such an intense game, and this game was no exception," said co-captain Christine Ryan '04. "The game went back and forth, and it was a tight game the whole time."
Amherst journeyed to Williams last Saturday for a match during Williams' parents' weekend. The Jeffs were really pumped for the game, yet the Ephs had the home-field advantage, complete with a cheering crowd filled with plenty of Williams parents.
The Ephs jumped out to an early lead when Tara Boyd crossed the ball into the circle for Crista Petrelli to tip in for the tally just 2:13 into regulation.
The game went back and forth; the Jeffs would control the ball, and then the Ephs would string together a number of nice passes. Both teams played at an intense level, and Amherst managed to put themselves on the scoreboard when Katherine Skrivan '06, who has a knack for finding the back of the goal cage, buried a goal for the Jeffs at 28:57 off a skillful feed from first-year Rachel Carr-Harris.
Amherst rode the momentum and managed to score the go-ahead goal right before the whistle sounded to signal the end of the first half. Junior Lauren Anderson found classmate Erin Leydon in front of the cage with a smooth pass, and Leydon put stick to ball to silence the Williams crowd.
At halftime, the game looked as if it could go either way. The two teams played 20 minutes of scoreless hockey in the second half before the next goal scored.
There was a lot of strong play in the midfield on Amherst's part including good stick control and block tackles, yet the ball continued to go back and forth. Williams evened up the game at a little over twenty minutes when Rebecca Allen passed to Tori Scott who put the ball past junior goalie K.C. Cosentino. Scott then scored again with about seven minutes remaining in regulation off of a center from Boyd. The Ephs had the lead and the Jeffs temporarily lost momentum.
Amherst had a close call when they appeared to have scored to tie the game back up, but in fact the ball hit off a player's foot before going into the cage and thus the goal did not count. At this point, Amherst seemed to lag a little, but with four minutes remaining in a well-fought game, they rallied back. With the help of a penalty corner and an assist from Ryan, Leydon again found the back of the net for the Jeffs to send the game into overtime minutes.
"It was a great game and unfortunately one team has to win, and this time it wasn't us," said Jacobs.
Boyd netted a ball off a cross from Claire Whipple 3:34 into the sudden death overtime, and suddenly the game was over. Both teams played an intense, well-fought game. Cosentino had 15 saves in the losing effort while her counterparts, two Williams goalies who split the minutes, had two apiece.
Amherst is now focused on their match against Trinity College. "We are looking forward to our last regular season game against Trinity, and we will hopefully come out with a win and a top spot in the NESCAC tournament," said Ryan.
Thoughts of another match against the hated Ephs linger however. "I know we'll probably see them again in the postseason tournament and if we play as well as we did Saturday, it's definitely a game we can win," said Jacobs.
This Sunday, the NESCAC tournament begins. Amherst will definitely host a first-round game, but their opponent is yet to be determined.