On Feb. 11, Amherst traveled to Vermont and lost a tough game to second-ranked Middlebury by a score of 4-1. Middlebury was able to control the game at the offensive end and outshot Amherst, 33-14. The Jeffs played a strong first period in which they found themselves tied with the defending national champions 1-1. Scoring for Amherst was junior defender Rachel Simon, who put home sophomore forward Alena Harrison's miss.
However, the final two periods were another story as the Panthers demonstrated why they are regarded so highly. In the final two periods, Middlebury scored three goals, while Amherst was not able to find the back of the net on any of its nine attempts. Sophomore goalie Stacey Johnston saved a total of 29 shots for Amherst but Middlebury's shots were too much for even her to handle.
On Friday, Amherst lost a thriller to archrival Williams by a score of 6-5. The Ephs came out firing and dominated the first quarter. Within 10-minutes, the Jeffs found themselves trailing 4-0. Although it may have appeared that the 10th-ranked Williams squad was going to jump all over the Jeffs, the game was far from over. Amherst was able to answer one goal late in the first period when rookie defenseman Julie Radziewicz capitalized on a feed from senior co-captain defender Amanda Mattei.
Determined to erase the deficit, the Jeffs remained focused and did everything they could to climb back into the game. "We dug ourselves in a hole in the first period, and we fought back," said sophomore defender Katharine Kelly.
In the second and third periods, Amherst was a completely different team. Just two minutes into the second stanza, senior forward Leah Kaplan cut into the lead with an assist from sophomore forward Christa Porcaro. Later in the period, defenseman Rachel Simon '07 found first-year forward Lindsey Harrington, to make the score 4-3. However, Williams capped the second-period scoring to extend its lead to two goals.
In the third period, Harrington tallied her second goal of the game to move Amherst to within one for the third time. For the next 13 minutes, the teams played neck-and-neck and had chances to score, but at 15:49 into the period, Williams scored a big goal to push its lead to 6-4. With its back against the boards, Amherst got another jolt of life 23 seconds later as defender Tes Siarnacki '07 found paydirt on the power play. Despite frantic play to close the contest, the Jeffs could not tingle the twine again leaving their comeback a goal short, 6-5.
"We played very well for the second and third periods against Williams," said junior co-captain forward Meghan Dickoff. "We almost came back from a four-goal deficit in the first period. The fact that we kept fighting and even came close to that big of a comeback is a huge credit to the amount of heart this team has."
The weekend will mark the last games at Orr Rink for the team's seniors and will close the regular season. Amherst plays Connecticut College on Friday at 7 p.m. and Utica College on Saturday at 3 p.m. Although the Jeffs have already reserved their spot in the conference tournament, the Conn. game will finalize Amherst's position. The remaining two regular season games, especially the one against Conn., are very important as the Jeffs gear up for the NESCAC tournament. "We're going to be in the playoffs," said Dickoff. "And the result of the Conn. game will be a big part in determining our seed."
NESCAC Notes
Bowdoin College junior forward Katie Forney earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 6. In just three games she compiled a total of six goals and five assists. She leads the conference in points. Despite Bowdoin's great play recently, the Polar Bears remain second to Middlebury in the Conference. Amherst is currently in the number-six spot, ahead of Conn., Trinity College and Wesleyan University. Harrington is currently tied for 10th in the NESCAC with a total of 23 points.