The crowd might as well have been watching a goalie clinic. Despite bombarding the Cardinals with 54 shots, the Jeffs scored only eight times. Ten of Wesleyan's 28 shots found the back of the net, and Amherst fell to 6-3 (2-3 NESCAC).
"It was great to finally be able to play at home," said tri-captain midfielder Colby Griffith '05. "We had a good-sized crowd thanks to the nice weather and SoCo tailgate. Unfortunately, we were not able to pull out the win."
The Cardinals owned the first quarter, scoring three times and allowing no goals. Attacker Chris Hofmann '07 finally put the Jeffs on the board with back-to-back goals to open the second frame. Hofmann was assisted by attackers Kevin Boova '06 and Andrew Syfu '05 in the attempted comeback. However, Wesleyan negated the effort with a pair of man-up goals.
Senior attacker Alex Casertano had an unassisted tally to bring the Jeffs back within two, but the Cardinals slipped two more shots past tri-captain goalie Cushing Donelan '05.
The high-scoring quarter ended when Griffith scored on a feed from sophomore attacker Derek Cherney to bring the score to 4-7.
Griffith's second tally gave the Jeffs some momentum heading into the second half. Cherney was assisted by Casertano just before Syfu scored unassisted to open the third quarter. The three-goal streak by the Jeffs made it a one-goal game with over 27 minutes left to play.
However, Wesleyan knocked in a goal a few minutes later and yet another as the third stanza came to a close.
The Cardinals struck for the last time to open scoring in the fourth quarter, but the Jeffs attempted another comeback in the final minutes. Boova provided the assist for Griffith, then Hofmann netted a man-up goal on a pass from midfielder Will Ferrer '08 with under four minutes left to play.
The rally ended there, though, as the Cardinals held on to take the win.
Junior long-stick midfielder Andrew Wilcox paced the Jeff defense by picking up seven ground balls. Wilcox also won 11 of 15 face-offs, while Donelan made five saves in goal.
The loss came as a blow to the 12th-ranked Jeffs, since Wesleyan is unranked nationally. "We expected them to play with intensity," said tri-captain defender Greg Donohue '05. "They have a few very good players that we knew about, and their defense always plays well against us. Their goalie was a bit of a surprise. He played extremely well."
Added Griffith, "We just didn't play with enough energy and weren't able to make the plays when we needed to."
The upset drops Amherst to seventh place in the NESCAC with the Cardinals just behind the Jeffs in the eighth spot. Amherst still has a chance to move up, with upcoming contests against Bates, Bowdoin, Connecticut and Williams Colleges, who coincidentally hold the second through fifth places in the conference, respectively.
Wins against those teams would put the Jeffs in a more comfortable position, as the top seven teams will qualify for the NESCAC Tournament.
The Jeffs remain confident that they will live up to their potential. "We'll turn it around," said Donohue. "We're going to make the playoffs."
With the post season just around the corner, there is no time like the present for the Jeffs to start proving their skill. "We just need to continue to practice hard and look forward to the upcoming games to prepare for the NESCAC Tournament," said Griffith.
Hard practices will be key for the Jeffs as they look to show some passion in the dwindling days of the regular season. "We need to pick up the intensity every day now," added Donohue. "With only two weeks left, there needs to be a sense of urgency."
The Jeffs will try to fight back today as they travel to Harvard University to take on the Bates Bobcats. There are two more regular season home events. On Saturday, the Jeffs host the Bowdoin Polar Bears, followed by a visit from the Conn. College Camels on Tuesday.