Looking for a little revenge over Bowdoin College who has knocked Amherst out of the playoffs two years in a row, the Jeffs looked poised to change their luck after a gritty start. Amherst took the lead on the power play in the second stanza when defenseman Brandon Zangel '07 received a gorgeous cross-ice feed from forward Mike McIntosh '08 before sniping it top corner. The momentum seemed to switch after the Bowdoin goalie robbed Will Collins '09 on a break-a-way and Ryan Blossom knotted the score for Bowdoin. Just two minutes later, the Polar Bears capitalized on the power play to give Bowdoin a 2-1 lead right before the third period.
The third period was not much better for Amherst as the Polar Bears tallied three more scores sealing a 5-1 drumming of the 10th-ranked Jeffs. Josh Fillman '07 made 31 saves in the losing effort while Bowdoin's Chris Rossi made 31 saves as well for Bowdoin keeping the potent Jeff offense to its lowest output of the season.
Saturday afternoon proved to be an exciting match-up featuring a back and forth battle of goals that left Colby College on top 5-4. Goalie A.J. Scola '09 made his second start in NESCAC action, making a couple of nice saves early on. Colby took the lead at the four-minute mark when Mike Belliveau poked through Scola's legs to score. Forward Griffin Biedron '08 and first-year linemates Jack Baer and Ted Vickers gave the Jeffs a much needed boost when Biedron knocked in his second goal of the season to end the second period ahead by one.
The Mules and Jeffs exchanged a pair of goals in the third period, providing a thrilling display of college hockey. The Jeffs received a costly blow when senior captain Sean Ellis received a cheap shot from from behind by Colby's Belliveau, leaving Ellis with a concussion and taking him out for the remainder of the game. Amherst was unable to take advantage of a five-minnute power play. It was Colby that made its man advantage count when conference-leading goal scorer Greg Osborne delivered the game-winner with only 3:29 to play. Despite a late dash to tie the game, Colby left Orr Rink victorious delivering a huge blow to Amherst's hope of hosting the NESCAC Tournament.
Without leading goal-scorer, Ellis, Amherst will need to work patricularly hard this weekend when they travel for two pivotal road contests at New England and St. Anselm Colleges. They cannot overlook these teams and will have to keep pace with Wesleyan University, Bowdoin, Colby and Middlebury College in order to host a first round playoff game.
Despite a loss of momentum this past week, the team is ready to move foward. "It never feels good to lose two straight games at home in front of your friends and family," said Biedron, "but now that is in the past, and you can't look back when you are about to hit full speed."
NESCAC Notes
Wesleyan sits alone in first place and travels to play Bowdoin and Colby this weekend. Wesleyan's Will Bennet leads the conference in points with 32 while Amherst forward Joel Covelli '09 is third with 29.