Amherst won its 13th game of the season last night, a 6-3 victory over non-conference opponent the College of Holy Cross. The 13 wins ties the school record set in 2003-04 for wins in a season. With four more regular season games scheduled, the Jeffs look to extend the record even further in what has been an historical season.
If they play like they did last night, 17 wins is a realistic possibility. Amherst got on the board early in the first period, shut out the Crusaders in the second and scored twice in the last two minutes: a strong showing from start to finish. "We felt pretty good," said sophomore forward Lindsey Harrington. "We wanted to use this game as a warmup for this weekend and to start a [win] streak."
A Holy Cross penalty less than four minutes in led to Amherst's first goal. First-year forward Michelle McGann and senior tri-captain defenseman Tes Siarnacki fed Harrington for the power play goal. The Jeffs overcame one first-period penalty, but a second trip to the box allowed the Crusaders to tie the score.
In the second period, there was a bit of déjà vu. The period began with another Holy Cross penalty and McGann and Siarnacki again found Harrington on the power play. The Jeffs added to their lead with just 19 seconds remaining in the frame. Harrington, Amherst's leading points scorer last year, had a hand in this goal as well. She and first-year forward Molly Malloy picked up assits on sophomore forward Anna MacLean's ninth goal of the season.
Senior goalie Lindsay Grabowski held the Crusaders scoreless throughout the second period, and that apparently did not sit well with the opposition. Holy Cross' Lisa Wilson slipped in an unassisted tally at 0:52 to open the third period. But Amherst continued to make Holy Cross pay for its penalties. This time first-year forward Kate Dennett scored on the power play with helpers coming from MacLean and first-year defenseman Kirsten Dier.
More goals were scored with a Crusader in the box. The Holy Cross penalty-kill unit retaliated with an unassisted, short-handed goal at 17:38, but Amherst's power play answered right back less than 30 seconds later. Sophomore forward Tarasai Karega found the net as Dennett and Dier each picked up their second points of the night. The Jeffs put the nail in the coffin with 59 ticks left on the clock. Using passes from MacLean and Malloy, Harrington completed the hat trick for her game-high fourth point.
Grabowski moved to 4-1 with the win. "The team makes the game really easy," she said. "Our team plays well together. We have a big weekend coming up. This was a good game to build momentum heading into [games against] Middlebury and Williams [Colleges] this weekend." Indeed, this will be a big test for the best team in Amherst's history. The Jeffs dropped early season contests to both the Panthers and the Ephs in the same weekend, but have since improved to 8-3-2 and third place in the conference. Williams has dropped to fifth place, while Middlebury has remained undefeated at 11-0-1 in the NESCAC.
However, the score of the Amherst-Middlebury game was only 1-0, and the Jeffs feel that they could have beaten both opponents. They are excited for the second opportunity. "I think we're ready. I feel like we have something to prove," said Harrington. "They are going to be two really good games."
Amherst hosts Middlebury on Friday at 7 p.m. and Williams on Saturday at 4 p.m.
NESCAC Notes
The NESCAC standings are far from being set in stone. With 16 conference games for the next two weekends, every team has the potential to slip or gain some ground. Wesleyan University is the only NESCAC team that Middlebury did not beat (a 1-1 tie), but paradoxically has the least number of wins.