While the victory may seem like déjà vu for Amherst, this win meant a lot more for the women's lacrosse team. The Jeffs began their week in familiar territory: They had just lost to national powerhouse Middlebury College in the regular season-as they have done since 2001-but their conference record was otherwise unblemished. They were unfazed by the Middlebury loss, reminding themselves that Amherst's 2003 National Championship women's lacrosse team fell to Middlebury twice before toppling the Panthers in the NCAA Div. III Championship game. It has been the women's lacrosse team's pattern to make a deep run in the playoffs even after losing to Middlebury in the regular season.
However, the difference between this season and years past came in the form of a mid-week game against 13th-ranked Babson College. In the women's lacrosse team's storied history, the Jeffs had never before faced the Beavers. In addition to dealing with a new opponent, the Jeffs had to play under very poor weather conditions. Due to a soggy grass field, the game was pushed back a few hours and moved to UMass. The result was something that Amherst is certainly not used to: fiery Babson squad completed the upset, and the Jeffs dropped two games in a row for the first time since 1999.
"I think we were in the wrong mindset going into the game," said quad-captain defender Maggie Roth '07. "It had been raining all day long, it was cold and it was late at night on a Thursday. Also, we weren't working together as a team. It seemed like we were all going out there doing our own thing instead of playing together."
Attackers Maddie Hoeg '08 and Amy Craig '09 provided all of the offense for Amherst. They each had a pair of goals in the first half, but at the break Babson led 5-4. Craig opened the second half with another pair of goals to put the Jeffs back on top 6-5. However, Babson outshot Amherst 8-4 in the second stanza, and two of the Beavers' attempts found the back of the net. The Beavers took the 7-6 lead at 22:01, and for the next seven minutes they stalled in the Amherst defensive end, simply holding on to the ball to prevent the Jeffs from generating any offense. With about a minute left in the game, Amherst finally recovered the ball when a Babson shot missed the net. The Jeffs sprinted down the field with a last-ditch effort to tie the game. However, too many Amherst players crossed the restraining line, and the off-sides call gave the ball back to Babson. The Beavers held on for the win.
"I don't think we were mentally prepared enough to play Babson last Thursday," said quad-captain midfielder Rachel Lewis '07. "Even though they are a really good team, it was an extremely disappointing loss."
With a 6-3 record, the Jeffs were at a crossroads. They began the season ranked first in the country in iwlca.org's preseason poll and with a goal of winning the National Championship. A loss to Babson was not part of that plan. All of a sudden, the Williams game-a contest where a lot was already at stake-grew in importance.
"It was a huge wake-up call," said Roth of the Babson game. "The captains had a long talk with our coaches about what we could do to put ourselves back on track. The team ran the [first part of] practice without the coaches the next day, to remind ourselves that we were in control of our game and that we were the ones who dictated the outcome."
Amherst's response was overwhelming, and it was the Ephs who were smothered. Even though the game might have been too close to call on paper, the Jeffs were simply dominant.
The game, played on Amherst's grass field, was back and forth for the first 20 minutes, but the Jeffs began to pull away towards the end of the half, and a buzzer-beater by Craig gave Amherst a 5-3 lead at the break. The Jeffs added four straight goals to kick off the second half. The Ephs rallied three times to cut Amherst's lead to 9-6, but the Jeffs finished the half the way it started, with four goals.
Junior goalie Linda McEvoy had 11 saves to preserve the 13-6 win. Quad-captain Alyssa Briody had a game-high six points, scoring two goals on just two shots and adding four assists. Craig tallied four goals for the second game in a row, while Hoeg also had four points on three goals and an assist. Quad-captain midfielder Lauren Dudley '07 scored twice and midfielders Liz Wise '07 and Mary Noonan '09 each found the back of the net once. Senior attacker Dana Kuper rounded out the box score with a pair of assists.
The game was a vital turning point in the women's lacrosse team's season. The most important result of the game was the Jeffs had fun; the Williams rivalry took a backseat. "I think we were less focused on the outcome, and more on enjoying each other, the sport and the game," said McEvoy. "We really wanted to play for each other, ourselves and our coaches and get our team back on track. The fact that we beat Williams was really an added bonus."
"The Williams game was a great win, but at the same time, it was just a game in our schedule," added Noonan. "We have four more regular season games, three of which are [against] NESCAC teams and all are going to be competitive. The Williams game, if anything, has given us the confidence to go into the next four games on our toes, ready to dictate our own level of play."
The Jeffs return to action today against Wheaton College, and NES
CAC play resumes on Saturday at Bowdoin College.
NESCAC Notes
The NESCAC teams are really beating up on each other. Amherst is now in sole possession of second place in the conference. Middlebury claims the top spot with a 5-0 NESCAC record. Wesleyan and Williams are tied for third, and the rest of the teams are either at or below .500.