Amherst is right in the thick of it. After a 1-1 week against conference opponents, the Jeffs are in a tie for second place. Williams College has an identical 4-1 NESCAC record, as the Ephs and the Jeffs both suffered their first conference losses of the season to Middlebury College this week. The archrivals will waste no time in solving this tie, however, as Williams will visit Amherst this weekend. Since both teams defeated Wesleyan University, Amherst and Williams will be fighting for the Little Three title, as well as sole possession of second place in the NESCAC.
In the meantime, Colby and Bowdoin Colleges, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the regular season last year, are now languishing at the bottom of the NESCAC ladder. While it is certainly far too soon to be thinking about end of the season rankings, it is interesting to note that Trinity College is tied for third place in the NESCAC, even after losing to the Jeffs earlier this week.
Last Wednesday, the Jeffs were scheduled to make their first appearance of the season on their home field against the Bantams. However, a forecast of heavy rain forced Head Coach Chris Paradis to relocate the game to the McGuirk Football Stadium at UMass. The weatherman was correct, and Amherst and Trinity battled it out in the cold downpour.
"Rain always makes games more complicated because sticks start to get wet, so basic things like passing and throwing become that much more difficult. It's called the great equalizer," said senior midfielder Liz Wise. "Despite the bad weather, the Trinity game was really exciting because our attack completely clicked."
In the previous game, the Jeffs had had their best offensive showing of the season, peppering Connecticut College with 13 goals. Against a stronger Trinity squad, Amherst put 14 shots in the net. But unlike the Conn. game, Amherst's opponent put up a fight. The scoring came in one, two or three goal packets for each team.
Trinity scored the first two goals, but Amherst claimed six of the next seven. The Bantams tied it with three straight tallies, but quad-captain attacker Alyssa Briody '07 put Amherst on top 7-6 just before halftime.
With only a one-goal lead, there was still a lot of lacrosse to play. Though Trinity kept the game competitive to the end, Briody's first-half score proved to be the game-winner. To open the second half, Amherst and Trinity traded goals twice. Then, the Jeffs were able to put the game away with three goals in less than two minutes. Junior attacker Maddie Hoeg led the way with the first two scores of the crucial sequence that gave the Jeffs a four-goal lead. Trinity did manage to score four more goals over the remaining 10 minutes, but Briody also found the back of the net twice in that span to secure the 14-12 win for Amherst.
Briody led all attackers with eight points, adding three goals and five assists to her season totals. Currently, Briody leads the NESCAC in assists and is tied for second in points. Five other Jeffs registered at least a point in the game against Trinity. Sophomore midfielder Mary Noonan returned from a bout of mononucleosis and contributed three goals and two assists. Attackers Amy Craig '09 and Maddie Hoeg '08 were the third and fourth Jeffs to score a hat trick in the game, with Craig also adding an assist. Quad-captain midfielder Lauren Dudley '07 scored twice and attacker Dana Kuper '07 provided a helper.
Noonan also put up big numbers on the defensive side of the stat sheet, collecting six ground balls-along with Wise-and forcing five turnovers. Junior goalie Linda McEvoy made seven saves to earn the win.
"[The] Trinity [game] was messy because of the weather, but we really pulled it together," said quad-captain defender Maggie Roth '07. "They [the Bantams] have really proved themselves to be a contender this year in the NESCAC, after beating Colby and just recently beating Bowdoin."
While enigmas like Trinity-who got trounced by Tufts University (2-3 NESCAC)-abound, one constant in the NESCAC has been Middlebury. The Panthers have simply been dominant in the conference, winning every single NESCAC regular season and NESCAC Tournament game since 2001. The only time Middlebury has lost to a conference opponent was in the 2003 National Championship final, which Amherst won.
The Jeffs were looking to topple the Panthers again, and felt up to the task on Saturday afternoon. "We were very relaxed-we knew that we had to play with confidence if we were going to play a good game," said Roth. "We were excited but not as nervous as we've been in past years."
Adding to the excitement was the prospect of finally playing on Amherst's home field. For the home-opener, many of the Jeffs' family members and friends were in attendance. In addition, women's lacrosse alumni were invited to watch the 2007 version of the intense rivalry that has developed between Amherst and Middlebury. "It was great to play at home, especially with so many fans and alumni coming out to support us," said McEvoy.
The result of the game was indentical to last season's contest: Middlebury won 11-3. The Jeffs cut Middlebury's early two-goal lead in half with a Craig tally, but the Panthers put the game out of reach with seven straight goals. Amherst decided to pick up the intensity in the last 15 minutes of the contest as Noonan and Craig each scored, but both goals were answered by Middlebury.
Even though the defense gave up 28 shots, McEvoy collected 11 saves. Meanwhile, the Amherst offense made the Middlebury goalie look good as she swallowed 11 of the Jeffs' 17 shots.
"The score in the second half was 4-2, so we know that we can definitely play with them. It's just a matter of maintaining that standard of play for an entire game," said Wise. "Linda played great in that game and really stepped up at some key points. They're unbelievably good shooters, so to have as many saves as she had is really impressive."
While the lopsided loss stings, the Jeffs are hoping for a rematch. "Next time we play Midd. we'll nail our shots, press them harder in the midfield, and reduce our turnovers," said quad-captain midfielder Rachel Lewis. "Hopefully that will do the trick."
"We will not psych ourselves out and [we will] play good controlled defense, as well as a more active attack," added McEvoy. "The team outlook is still very positive! We hope to get Midd. next time when we meet in NESCACs!"
Before the Jeffs can seek revenge, however, they have the rest of their season to play. Next up is a home game with Babson College at 4:30 on Thursday. Then on Saturday, the archrivals (Amherst and Williams) will clash on Hitchcock Field at 11:00.
"We're all really excited for the rest of our season," said Wise. "We have a lot of important games coming up, and each game we keep getting better."
NESCAC Notes
The Amherst-Williams game is probably the most high-profile contest this weekend, but every conference game seems to have a huge impact on the NESCAC standings. Middlebury will test Trinity, and Bowdoin and Colby will each have a chance to redeem its season with a game against higher-ranked opponents Tufts and Wesleyan, respectively.