After dropping four in a row, including several heart-breaking last-second decisions, the Jeffs desperately needed a home game to right the ship. Unfortunately, the schedule called for two road games: at local non-conference rival Springfield College, and at NESCAC foe Bowdoin College. The number that will haunt the Jeff defense is 15, as Springfield College won 15-7 on Thursday night and Bowdoin won 15-9 Saturday afternoon.
As it stands, Amherst sits at the bottom of the NESCAC standings, and needs to move from 10th to seventh in order to make the seven-team NESCAC Tournament. The squad has proven they can compete against anyone in the country, its just a matter of making that final push that will vault them to a win.
And confidence does not seem to be an issue. "The entire team and I are extremely optimistic for the remainder of the season," said attacker Brett Miller '09. "Our record this year is not at all indicative of our talent and potential for success. We are confident that we can beat any team in the NESCAC in the upcoming weeks, as long as we all show up to play."
As the Jeffs make this final desperate push towards the postseason, their grueling schedule finally looks favorable. After the previous three weeks were scattered with top-15 opponents, Amherst faces two teams that join them in the bottom-half of the NESCAC standings, and teams the Jeffs must leapfrog to still be alive after Saturday. Tuesday afternoon the Jeffs travel to Connecticut College, and on Saturday they host archrival Williams College for what will hopefully only be the regular season finale and not the season's final game.
Also do not think that this six-game skid has affected their effort, as the team is motivated to end this season on a high note. The Jeffs also seem to understand that this run of bad luck that has led to crushing defeats should not tarnish the fact that they are an extremely talented team. "The strength of our team is the intensity, hard work and athleticism that each player brings to every game," said Miller. "We're a great bunch of guys that can beat any team we play, but we've had a couple of unlucky situations where we just couldn't pull out a win."
Against Springfield, midfielder Joaquin Walker '06 scored the first of his three goals in the first period to jumpstart the Jeffs. A Springfield response knotted the game at one apiece, which is where the game stood at the end of the first quarter. Junior co-captain attacker Derek Cherney, the NESCAC's reigning points leader, found the net twice in the second quarter. Red-hot sophomore midfielder Will Ferrer assisted Cherney's first score, and senior co-captain Kevin Boova dished the helper on the second. However, every time Amherst struck, Springfield had an answer, and a home-team goal with 40 seconds left gave the Pride a 4-3 halftime lead.
The second half was as lopsided as the first half was close, as the Pride scored 11 goals. The Jeffs got a goal from Ferrer and junior attacker Chris Hofmann, and Walker finished out his hat trick with two more, but that was all from the Amherst attack. First-year goalie Matt Pietroforte again notched double-digit saves with 13, and senior Raul Altreche filled in for the final eight minutes, racking up two saves and allowing one goal.
Altreche got the starting nod between the pipes last Saturday, his first collegiate start. Senior co-captain Sean Murray opened the game with an unassisted score, but Bowdoin came back with six unanswered goals. With Bowdoin short-handed, Amherst ended the Bowdoin barrage as Hofmann took a feed from Miller and converted. Bowdoin responded, but then Ferrer scored two goals in six seconds to cut the deficit to 7-4 at the half.
Miller scored an unassisted goal to start the second half, but that was as close as the Jeffs would get. Bowdoin went on another tear, ripping four straight goals. Another unassisted goal by Miller stopped the bleeding, and, after a Bowdoin answer, Miller got his third goal of the game off a pass from Boova. Bowdoin responded again, and Amherst trailed 13-7 with one quarter to play.
Another first-year, midfielder Tim Thornton, scored three minutes into the fourth off of a Murray assist, and Ferrer scored his third of the game, but Bowdoin responded each time, and the Jeffs dropped the game 15-9. Altreche finished with nine saves, but the change in the crease could not change the result.
NESCAC Notes
After running out to a 5-0 conference start, Bates College dropped its second in a row to Tufts University in double-overtime. Fellow one-loss team Wesleyan University lost to Williams 11-10, leaving Middlebury College, who dominated Trinity College, 14-3, alone at the top. Bowdoin joins Bates and Wesleyan at 5-2, tied for second, as the three teams jockey for postseason seeding this final week. At 4-3, Tufts sits comfortably at fifth, and should get a spot in the tournament. As far as the sixth and seventh slots, Williams and Conn. College control their own destiny at 3-4, but Colby College and Trinity lurk at 2-6.