The Panthers and the Cardinals had a different fate in mind for the Jeffs, however, and both teams departed the Pioneer Valley with one more tally in the win column, while the Jeffs (5-7, 2-5 NESCAC) enter their final two conference contests barely hanging on to the final spot in the postseason.
As has been the trend all season for a squad that has struggled with consistency, it seemed like two different versions of the Jeffs came out to play on Wednesday and Saturday. While both ended up with losses, the Amherst team that lost to Wesleyan 6-0 on Saturday was not the same squad that battled Middlebury to a tight 2-1 loss on Wednesday.
Indeed, Amherst held the 10-2 Panthers-a team that has scored 39 goals on the season and beaten opponents by an average of 2.5 goals per game-scoreless for the first 27 minutes of the contest. If not for a brief letdown a
round halftime in which the Panthers scored both of their tallies, the Jeffs would have had the Panthers up against the ropes.
The play that surrounded this lapse was notable for its resilient defense and scrappy if not dominant offensive play. Goalie Kathleen Boucher '08 made nine of her 13 saves in the first half. And while the Jeffs only got off three shots, tri-captain forward Molly Gilbert '06 made one of her two opportunities count with 17:36 to go in the game. Midfielder Rachel Carr-Harris '07 notched the assist, her fourth of the year, while Gilbert's third goal on the season put her in the team lead for points with nine.
Three days later, despite the energy of the Homecoming crowd and the importance of a win against Wesleyan, the Amherst women seemed sluggish and complacent. No avid Amherst fan would have been able to predict the pounding the Jeffs took at the hands of the Cardinals, who came into the game with similar results to those of the Jeffs thus far. Both teams beat Trinity by one goal early in the season; both had been on either side of one-goal decisions against Bates and Colby Colleges.
Perhaps the Cardinals had eaten their Wheaties that morning, or perhaps they had skipped breakfast altogether, because they came out hungry for goals and showed it, pounding four goals on nine shots in the first half before adding two more in the first third of the second frame. The final 23 minutes of the contest were scoreless, but at that point Wesleyan had it in the bag.
By contrast, the Jeffs put up a paltry three shots and were unable to dominate the bottom of the Cardinal roster in the garbage time of the second half. Boucher had 10 saves, five in each half.
The Jeffs are determined not to let feelings of disappointment linger as the regular season comes to an end this weekend. "We have hit some rough patches but we are ready to go out there in our last two regular season games with confidence and play the game that we know we can," said Carr-Harris.
The Jeffs must also learn from their mistakes in order to succeed this week. "We have the skill as a team, but we need to capitalize on what we have learned from our losses," said tri-captain forward Erin O'Hare '06.
This afternoon, Amherst hosts basement-dweller Connecticut College at 4 p.m., and a win will catapult the Jeffs to the NESCAC Tournament. On Saturday Amherst travels to Williams College for a showdown at high noon that the third-best team in the NESCAC, the Ephs, win on paper every time. However, lower-rated Amherst squads traditionally have surprised the Ephs in this season-ender, and things could still coalesce for this young Jeff squad.