To sum up the events of the past weekend, Amherst's performance in the NESCAC Final Four was, in one word, amazing. The Jeffs made the most of their conference championship run, winning each game in overtime, including their quarterfinal victory over Williams College on Feb. 24. The third-seeded Jeffs followed that performance with a semifinal upset of Bowdoin College on Saturday. The icing on the cake was a 2-1 triple-overtime win over Middlebury College for the title on Sunday.

The road to the conference title went through Middlebury, Vt., since the Panthers were the top seed in the tournament. In the first semifinal game, fourth-seeded Hamilton College fell to Middlebury 7-2.

The higher seed in the second semifinal did not have such an easy time. Amherst came out on fire, and quickly put the second-seeded Polar Bears on their heals. First-year forward Kate Dennett scored her 12th goal of the season just 18 seconds after the puck dropped. Forward Michelle McGann '10 assisted on the play. Despite five penalties in the first period-four committed by Bowdoin-the score remained 1-0 at intermission.

Bowdoin finally got on board with a power-play goal just over halfway through the second period. Even though the Jeffs had some strong scoring chances, the period ended with the score knotted at one. "We started off so strong in the Bowdoin game, but had a few let-downs especially in the second period," said tri-captain forward Alena Harrison. "When it came down to it though, we knew we needed to get the job done."

The Polar Bears opened the third frame much like Amherst started the game, as they took the lead with an unassisted tally before a minute had expired. But Amherst stormed right back. Just over four minutes later the Jeffs' power play unit, which is ranked second in the NESCAC, lit the lamp. Sophomore forward Tarasai Karega picked up the rebound and the game-tying goal, with assists going to sophomore forward Anna MacLean and Dennett.

Amherst is unbeaten when games have gone to extra periods, a streak that continued with Saturday's contest. McGann found Karega, who scored her second goal of the game four minutes and 39 seconds into the sudden death overtime period to send Amherst to the NESCAC finals.

"The Bowdoin game was really nerve-wracking until overtime," said first-year goalie Krystyn Elek. "After everything my team has accomplished this year, I always feel okay going into overtime. But overall it was extremely intense; it was one of the most physical games all year and Bowdoin has some big girls on their team, so it wasn't easy to keep up with their level of physicality. Going into the game, though, we knew we would have to come out fighting back or they would take advantage of us."

Amherst held its ground in large part due to Elek's play. The rookie netminder, who earned First Team All-NESCAC honors and was named NES-

CAC Rookie of the Year, made 30 saves for her second postseason win in as many games. But there was still more to come.

The following day, Amherst faced off against host Middlebury. Middlebury has claimed the NESCAC title four of the six times it has been awarded, including the previous two years. (Bowdoin is the only other team to win a NESCAC Championship.) Middlebury has won the national title each of the last three years.

The championship game was fast-paced from the start, but it was the Jeffs who drew first blood. At 15:01 of the first period, MacLean gave Amherst the lead, with assists from sophomore forward Lindsey Harrington '09 and senior defenseman Rachel Simon.

But the Amherst lead was short-lived. Middlebury's power play is first in the NESCAC, and the Panthers converted a man-up opportunity less than two minutes later.

From there, the stat sheet indicates that the game was a defensive struggle. In the second period, Amherst only mustered two shots, while Middlebury enjoyed its most offensive period with 18 attempts to score. Nothing found the back of the net, and third period began with the game tied 1-1. This frame was a bit more even-matched, with the Panthers narrowly out shooting the Jeffs 6-4. As the period progressed, the tension mounted, and fans couldn't help but get the feeling that the next goal would win it. Spectators sat eagerly on the edge of their seats, waiting for the crucial tiebreaker.

That moment nearly came about midway through the period. Middlebury senior Abby Kurtz-Phelan, got the puck on a breakaway, and stormed toward Elek, looking for the 100th point of her career. It was the NESCAC Player of the Year versus the NESCAC Rookie of the Year. Elek won.

Elek's huge stop let everyone know that she was on the top of her game, and the players responded. Though both teams had chances to score, stellar defense by both squads prolonged the match.

Regular season games only have five minutes of sudden death overtime before they end in a tie. In the playoffs, however, the game continues until someone scores.

In overtime, Middlebury's dangerous power play unit took the ice again, but Amherst was able to kill the penalty. Half a minute later, the Panthers had a player in the box, but the Jeffs couldn't score either. After 20 scoreless minutes, the Jeffs and Panthers returned to the locker room for a brief respite while the zamboni cleared the ice.

The skaters looked a bit more fatigued in the second overtime. Nevertheless, Elek and her Middlebury counterpart kept the clock ticking by keeping the puck out of the net. There were no penalties, and the only breaks in play were for icing or off sides whistles. Amherst and Middlebury had played 100 minutes of ice hockey, and still no winner could be declared.

"It still amazes me how both teams played over 100 minutes of hockey in the Middlebury game," said tri-captain forward Kirsten Forsberg. "No amount of sprinting can prepare you for that, it was all heart."

Amherst proved to have more heart. Though the Jeffs had been out shot 66-21 heading into the third extra session, Amherst took a quick 3-0 shot advantage in the sixth frame. The third was the game-winner. After a wrap-around shot by first-year forward Molly Malloy, MacLean picked up the rebound in a scramble in front of the net and ended the marathon contest, with Amherst as the victor.

"It is crazy to be NESCAC champs," said Harrison. "It was so unexpected and so surreal. Even though we have been playing so well this season we knew how challenging it would be to win it all. As a [first-year] I never expected that in my four years something like this would happen! We are truly on cloud nine."

They have every right to be, as this has been a season for the record books. Prior to this year, Amherst had not beaten Williams, Bowdoin or Middlebury in school history. By Feb. 6, the 2006-07 Jeffs were already better than any other women's ice hockey team in school history, surpassing the former school record of 13 wins in a season. But Amherst kept rolling. In addition to Head Coach Jim Plumer's Coach of the Year and Elek's Rookie of the Year honors, three Jeffs (Elek, Karega and first-year defenseman Kirsten Dier) were named First Team All-NESCAC, which is more representatives than any other school, and more recognition than Amherst has ever had. The NESCAC quarterfinal win over Williams was the first playoff win in school history. Elek's 65 saves in the NESCAC final is a conference record for most saves in a game, and she also set the NESCAC record for most saves in a tournament with 127. The triple-overtime affair is the longest game in NCAA history. Amherst played in and won the conference championship for the first time, and will be making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Jeffs have lost just once in the last 20 games. The women's ice hockey team is the only Amherst squad to win the NESCAC Championship this winter, and just the second Amherst team to claim a conference title this year. The banners in Orr Rink are going to require some degree of specificity, as up until now only former men's ice hockey teams have banners on display.

"We are all kind of in awe of what we accomplished," said Harrington. "We made history in so many ways this weekend, and we are all just so excited to be a part of it."

Despite the team's many accolades, the Jeffs' performance-and Elek's in particular-on Sunday was nothing short of remarkable. "Krystyn Elek is not human," said Forsberg. "She made so many tremendous saves; her performance was unbelievable. We knew that Elek wasn't going to let anything go in off the first shot, and that if we protected the rebounds and cleared pucks away we could keep them from scoring."

But Elek attributes the team's success to the hard work of the defense. "The whole defensive core is amazing and I know we all owe a lot to the sacrifices they make each and every game," she said. With three of the top seven scorers in the NESCAC, the offense is doing its job as well.

"The defense did an amazing job of clearing out bodies and loose pucks in front. The forwards also tried to pick people up to keep their scoring opportunities at a minimum," said Harrison. "Playing team defense is essential against teams like Middlebury that really execute their plays well."

Amherst will get a chance to play even more good teams in the NCAA Tournament. The first game will be at Rochester Institute of Technology at 7:00 on Saturday. The game will be an opportunity for the Jeffs to continue their incredible season, as well as some of the fun traditions they have built along the way.

"At the end of the game when we all fall down [after celebrating a win] we are re-enacting the celebration from 'Any Given Sunday,'" explained Forsberg, clarifying an observation made in last week's article. "We all stand in a huddle and cover our ears while someone throws their glove in the air. We pretend that the glove is a grenade, so when it hits the ice we all fall down. We have done it since the Williams game. During overtime we talk about how we need to go out there and win so we can do that celebration. It has become an extra incentive to win for us."

Whatever the motivation is for Amherst's success, it certainly has been working.