"Right now, our goal for the playoffs is to go to the NESCAC Final Four," said co-captain forward Meghan Dickoff '07. "That would be a big first for the program, and it's been a goal of ours all season."
On Feb. 17 Amherst defeated Connecticut College at Orr Rink in what was one of the most important games of the year. The Lady Jeffs blanked Conn. 3-0 as sophomore goaltender Stacey Johnston secured her third shutout of the year, stopping all 18 shots sent her way. Amherst dominated the game in all facets, controlling the puck at the offensive end for the majority of the game and compiled a total of 38 shots. Scoring for the Jeffs were first-year forwards Lindsey Harrington, Anna MacLean and Tarasai Karega.
MacLean opened the scoring with her ninth goal of the season at 7:30 in the second period after a scoreless first stanza. The goal was assisted by Harrington, who tallied her 15th goal of the season later in the period as MacLean returned the favor. Lastly, Karega, not to be outdone, scored her 15th goal of the season in the third period off feeds from Dickoff and junior defender Rachel Simon. The three first-years lead the team in goals.
"We played really well against Conn.," said sophomore defender Katharine Kelly. "We were really aware that we needed a win to get a better playoff position, so we came out motivated and we executed really well."
Amherst's win, coupled with Hamilton's loss to Williams College, allowed the Jeffs to jump a position in the standings. "The win against Conn. was important for us," said Dickoff. "Winning the last conference game of the season is a great confidence-booster going into playoffs. We were very excited to play them and to get a chance to prove ourselves since we didn't have a great game when we played them in December. Had we lost that game, we would have ended up with a lower seed for playoffs."
On Saturday, the Jeffs lost a 3-1 decision to tough non-conference opponent Utica College. Despite playing well, Amherst was unable to stop Utica's junior forward Jill Nolan ortake advantage of numerous scoring opportunities. Amherst fell behind 1-0 after Nolan's first period goal, and Amherst was outshot 12-6 in the period.
However, the second period was a completely different story. Although Amherst was only able to muster one goal and simply tie the game, they completely dominated their opponent, outshooting Utica by a 27-3 margin. Sophomore forward Elizabeth Ditmore scored the lone goal, her second tally of the season. The solitary Amherst score was assisted by MacLean and sophomore forward Meg Quinn. Utica's goaltender Stephanie Yates did an amazing job between the pipes as Amherst had could have easily taken the lead in the second period.
In the third period, Utica was able to respond to Amherst's second period domination and Nolan put the Jeffs away by scoring two goals to complete the hat-trick. Amherst was only able to attempt 12 shots in the period, compared to 27 the previous period. Overall, Amherst's Johnston turned away 23 of the 26 shots. Utica goalie Stephanie Yates saved an impressive 44 shots.
Amherst will travel to Waterville, Me. on Saturday to take on the Mules in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Tournament. Amherst has dropped two decisions against Colby this year, but the Jeffs have plenty of momentum coming off this weekend.
"We're confident going into playoffs knowing that we're peaking at the right time of the season," said Dickoff. "We've played a very tough stretch of games over the last few weeks, facing a number of teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. These tough opponents have prepared us for the playoffs because, having played well against teams like that, we know what we're capable of when we're on our game."
NESCAC Notes
Middlebury College finished the regular season with a 15-1 record in conference play and earned the number-one seed and a first round bye in the NESCAC Tournament. The following are the top three seeds heading into the Tournament: Bowdoin, Williams and Colby. Williams junior forward Anna Condino earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 13. Condino scored two goals in each of the two weekend games, including the game winner against Amherst. Colby's Laura Anning and Middlebury's Annmarie Cellino ended the regular season tied for the NESCAC lead in goals with 20 and points with 35.