The Jeffs' NESCAC schedule began with disappointment. Despite scoring three goals against Trinity, the team was unable to take home the win and fell, 5-3.
The high-scoring first half started with a goal seven minutes in by midfielder Katherine Skrivan '06. After a Trinity penalty, Skrivan hit a line drive into the net off a penalty corner for Amherst's first strike of the season. Just minutes later, however, Bantam Erin Daly got one past the Jeff defense to tie the game up. This ping-pong-like atmosphere of one team scoring then the other answering back immediately set the tone for the rest of the game, and Amherst could not answer back loudly enough.
Skrivan put the Jeffs back in the lead in the 12th minute off an assist from junior forward Molly Gilbert. A mere 32 seconds later, Trinity's Daley responded with her second goal of the game followed by another from teammate Jessica Baker.
The Bantams held the lead for the rest of the period and the game. Though neither team scored for the next 16 minutes, three more balls found the back of the cage before the end of the half, and unfortunately, two of them were Trinity's. Patricia Glennon squeaked one past the Amherst defense with just over six minutes remaining to put Trinity up by two. Just a minute later, senior forward Erin Leydon deflected the ball into the net with a hot reverse stick off a wide shot by Skrivan. The flip-flopping continued, however, as Trinity answered back to close the scoring for the half and the game at 5-3.
Amherst goalie K.C. Cosentino '05 racked up 10 saves, as the Bantams outshot the Jeffs, 23-9. On the bright side statistically, however, is the fact that Amherst had a 9-4 edge on penalty corners, which provide key scoring opportunities in field hockey.
Sophomore midfielder Rachel Carr-Harris, who got a shot off for the Jeffs, was disappointed about the loss. "We had some great goals, but we didn't connect very well on our passing, and our defense on the whole was not very productive," she said.
Junior forward Erin O'Hare agreed that the game was a learning experience. "Although our loss to Trinity was a disappointment, it allowed our team to focus in on the weak points of our offensive and defensive play. We will capitalize on this loss and are confident that we will come out much stronger for our next game," O'Hare said.
And come out stronger they did. Though the beginning was the same, it was an entirely different story yesterday afternoon at Hitchcock Field, as Amherst showed that Saturday did not matter with a dominating win over Smith.
Less than eight minutes into the game, Gilbert found the back of the cage off a pass from Carr-Harris. The Jeffs continued to pepper the Pioneers, getting 12 shots on goal in the first half, but they were unable to put one in until 16 minutes into the second half, when Carr-Harris fed junior midfielder Lauren Anderson a pass to put Amherst ahead, 2-0. The Jeffs would score once more, less than 10 minutes later, as Leydon scored her second strike of the season off an assist from Skrivan to put the final score at 3-0.
"We made a point of playing our game, not letting anything distract us," said senior co-captain defender Emma Feinstein. "Especially in the second half, a lot of people stepped up big."
Senior co-captain defender Alicia Pichard expressed her confidence in the team dynamics this year, as 10 new-comers joined the roster. "We have a team with a lot of depth, and I also see a lot of potential in the underclassmen. I think we're only going to continue getting stronger," said Pichard.
The team looks to put it all together once more on Saturday in a NESCAC match-up against Bates College. The Jeffs beat the Bobcats 1-0 last year on their home turf and will look for a repeat performance.