On Dec. 2, Amherst lost a close game at Orr Rink to the number-one team in the country, Middlebury. Although Amherst played tremendous hockey, they were narrowly edged out by the defending national champions.
The Jeffs came out flat in the first period, and the Panthers demonstrated why they are the top-ranked team by scoring three first-period goals. The Panthers completely dominated throughout the period, controlling the puck and outshooting the Jeffs 15-2.
However, in the second period, Amherst returned in top form. They arrived on the ice with signs of new life and determination to get back into the game. Tossing aside the timidity that characterized their first-period play, the Jeffs aggressively matched Middlebury's first period play and countered with three goals of their own.
In less than four minutes, Amherst had tallied all of its scores. First-year forward Lindsey Harrington, who has been a standout this season, started the comeback, scoring her fifth goal of the year at 3:37 in the period. Senior defender Amanda Mattei made a nice pass to assist Harrington.
Amherst did not slow down; at 6:10 junior defender Tes Siarnacki scored a power-play goal, her first of the year. The goal was assisted by sophomore defender Elizabeth Ditmore and junior tri-captain forward Megan Dickoff. Just a minute later Tarasai Karega scored a short-handed goal, her fifth of the year, off an assist by junior forward Rachel Simon.
After Karega's goal, both teams tightened up, playing solid defense and refusing to let the puck in the net. In the final period, the play was extremely even with both teams getting nine shots on goal. Ultimately, the deciding shot came at 14:38 in the final stanza when Middlebury's Shannon Tarrant edged the puck by sophomore goaltender Stacey Johnston.
Johnston played a solid game behind the pipes, stopping a total of 29 shots. She settled down after the three early goals and did an impressive job keeping Amherst in the game.
Despite the loss, sophomore defender Katharine Kelly was happy with the way the team preformed. "I think we played really well, and proved that we can stick with the best teams in the country," Kelly said. "We know that we can play with anybody, and I think that will help our confidence."
Following the heart-rending loss to Middlebury, Amherst took on arch-rival Williams College at Orr Rink the next day. Once again, the conclusion was not in Amherst's favor, as Williams skated to a 5-2 victory.
Amherst fell behind early, but tied the game in the first period when Kelly scored her first goal of the year off a feed from Ditmore at the 11:16 mark. After a scoreless second period, Williams took control of the game with four third period goals. Although the Jeffs outshot the Ephs 26-11 in that period, Williams made the best of their eleven shots. Amherst was only able to score once in the period, when Karega netted her sixth goal of the year, an unassisted short-handed tally.
Johnston played in goal again for the Jeffs and stopped 28 shots as her record fell to 2-3. Denise McCulloch, Williams' goaltender, impressively stopped 47 shots.
Once again, the Jeffs were disappointed with the outcome, but they did not think the previous day's loss to Middlebury affected their performance against Williams. "The second game of the weekend is always hard, but I think the loss was more about some mental mistakes and bad bounces than anything else," said Kelly.
Amherst will travel to Connecticut College on Friday, Dec. 9 in what will be their last game until Jan. 6.
NESCAC Notes
Annemarie Cellino, a first-year forward for the undefeated Middlebury team, earned NESCAC Player of the week honors for the week of Nov. 28. In two games she tallied a total of four goals and assisted on two others. She leads the NESCAC in points. Bowdoin College is second in the NESCAC, with a 2-0 conference record, although the Polar Bears are 0-3 in non-conference tilts. The Jeffs are currently sixth in the NESCAC, ahead of Conn., Wesleyan University and Hamilton College, respectively. Amherst's Harrington is tied for 12th among conference leaders with seven points, and is the fourth-ranked first-year in that category.