Again, the young Jeff squad held its own against a worthy foe, only to fall in overtime. At 2-7 overall, and 1-5 in league play, Amherst finds itself only a couple plays away from being near .500, with two very high caliber wins against clubs that will vie for the NESCAC crown. If the Jeffs can find a way to make the extra play they need to to win, they will be a very tough draw for a high seed in the tournament.
However, it will be tough to remain optimistic. No matter how well they have contended with top-15 teams, they have still gone the last two weeks without a win, dropping their last four games.
Saturday afternoon looked promising at the start, as rising star first-year attacker Brett Miller notched his seventh goal of his rookie campaign in the opening quarter. After a Wesleyan response left the teams knotted after one, the teams traded goals once again, with another promising Jeff first-year, Tim Thornton, notching a goal to tie the game 2-2. Junior co-captain attacker Derek Cherney then dished off to classmate and fellow attacker Chris Hofmann for a score, giving the Jeffs a 3-2 lead at the break.
Wesleyan jumped out of the gates to begin the second half, getting past Jeff stopper Matt Pietroforte '09 twice to grab the lead. Amherst responded as Hofmann returned the favor to Cherney, assisting the junior star's 13th goal on the year. In the final period, Amherst took the lead with just over five minutes to play, thanks to senior co-captain midfielder Sean Murray's goal. Exactly two minutes later, Wesleyan answered, and neither team could muster a score in the final three minutes.
Overtime was short, but not sweet. Only 30 seconds in, Wesleyan standout Grayson Connors found the net for the second time in the afternoon, sending the Jeffs and their strong effort home empty-handed. Cherney had a goal and three assists in the affair.
Earlier in the week, Amherst also lost in agonizing fashion to Endicott. Falling behind 3-1 in the first quarter, Cherney contributed the lone Amherst goal of the frame. After a scoreless second period, Amherst responded to an early Endicott strike with two consecutive scores from Hofmann and sophomore midfielder Will Ferrer.
Endicott got the last word of the third period with another score, and scored two more to begin the fourth to jump to a four-goal lead. Two more goals from Ferrer and another from Cherney were not enough, though, as a remarkable Jeff comeback fell just short. Pietroforte stood strong in goal with another impressive outing with 16 saves.
While Amherst may be the best 2-7 club in the nation, the Jeffs find no consolation in that, and will look to right the ship on Thursday night at non-conference opponent Springfield College, before heading to Bowdoin College on Saturday afternoon.
NESCAC Notes
Connecticut College upset previously-undefeated Bates College handily, 13-7, allowing perennial powers Middlebury and Wesleyan to join the Bobcats at the top with 5-1. Trinity College's 10-9 victory over Williams College in double overtime-the third game that needed extra time to crown a winner last week-was the most entertaining game of the week, as Trinity moved out of the NESCAC cellar. Amherst's next conference opponent, Bowdoin, sits alone in fourth at 3-2. The Jeffs are 10th in the conference, just a half-game behind Williams.