Amherst's wins have come against four above-.500 teams who have a combined 23-10-1 record. "We're all very excited about the beginning of the season," said Marc Russell '05.
The hot start has been led by Kretzman, who earned NESCAC Player of the Week and tournament MVP honors for his performance. Kretzman scored twice and had one assist in a 6-5 comeback win over SUNY-Cortland and assisted on Brandon Zangel's '07 overtime goal against Trinity. Kretzman has scored seven goals this year and is on a five-game point-scoring streak.
Amherst's victory over Trinity was characteristic of the gritty play that has pushed the Lord Jeffs to their fast start. Down 1-0 after the first period, Russell netted the first goal of his collegiate career to send the game into overtime.
After about six minutes of sudden-death overtime, Kretzman fed the puck to Zangel who scored his first collegiate goal. The score secured a win over Trinity, last year's NESCAC Champion and a team ranked in the preseason top- 10 national rankings. "The team came together and showed all of us the potential that we have," said Russell.
Few of Amherst's wins have been blowouts. In its 6-5 win over SUNY-Cortland, Amherst needed a pair of goals in the final minute in order to win. Kretzman scored with 47 seconds to go, and Steve Nelson '06 scored the game-winner with 15 seconds remaining.
Amherst also needed the full 60 minutes against Babson in its 3-3 tie. Kretzman netted the tying goal with 22 seconds remaining to keep Amherst's undefeated season intact. Wentworth University came to Orr Rink with a national top-20 ranking and a 5-0 record and promptly scored a power play goal to lead after six minutes. Amherst responded with three even-strength goals in the remainder of the first period en route to a 4-2 win.
Solid defense has been key for the Lord Jeffs. "I think our goalies so far have played very well. I think they've been a big part of the success so far," said Russell. First-year goalies Dan Smith and Josh Fillman have combined to form a veritable brick wall in net. Fillman had 34 saves in the victory over Trinity, the most of any goalie in the tournament, while Smith led Amherst to a 4-0 win over UMass-Boston.
The season continues on Dec. 5 and 6 against St. Michael's College and defending national champion Norwich University, respectively."We're playing some pretty tough teams coming up, and we're looking forward to the challenge," said Russell.