The men’s hockey team made significant strides in its pursuit of hosting a first-round NESCAC playoff game, winning a pair of conference match-ups last weekend. Cole Anderson ’11 and Jonathan LaRose ’11 both played well, leading the Jeffs to victories in goal and propelling Amherst into third place in the league. On Friday night, the Jeffs defeated Tufts University, 3-2, before beating Connecticut College on Saturday afternoon by a 5-3 score. The Jeffs have now won three in a row heading into the most critical weekend of the season, when they visit Colby and Bowdoin Colleges next Friday and Saturday. According to senior forward Gregg Adamo, the team understands the significance of next weekend’s games. “Bowdoin has knocked us out of the playoffs three straight years, and we know how important getting a win would be,” he said.
Friday night’s game was a tightly contested battle of wills that came down to execution on the power play. Every goal was scored with the man advantage, and Amherst jumped ahead 15 minutes into the opening period when defenseman Jeff Landers ’09 drilled a slap shot past the Tufts goaltender from the blue line. Forwards Adamo and Joel Covelli ’09 collected assists on the score. Tufts fought back with a strong second period and finally tied the score during a 5-on-3 advantage. They then seized the lead with five minutes remaining in the period during a 4-on-3, capitalizing on Amherst’s lack of discipline. But the Jeffs came out flying in the third period, and forward Andrew Schremp ’08 delivered a critical game-tying goal off of a Rylan Burns ’09 slap shot. With the momentum on their side, the Jeffs took the lead off of junior forward Brendan Powers’ snipe past the Tufts goaltender. Anderson finished with 21 stops, and solid third-period defending gave Amherst a crucial win. “It was a tough game for us,” said co-captain and forward Kyle Schoppel ’08. “But we played well on the power play, and LaRose had another good game in goal.”
Saturday belonged to Amherst Head Coach Jack Arena ’83. Arena was a star player at Amherst, winning the Hobey Baker award for the best men’s collegiate hockey player during his senior year. He followed that up by taking the head coaching position at Amherst and beginning a stellar coaching career. The 1983-84 team showed up to surprise Arena, greeting him on the bench in their old uniforms. Larry Vitale ’84 congratulated him before the game on behalf of his former players.
The Jeffs wasted no time getting Arena his 296th victory. Just over two minutes into the game against Conn. College, forward Keith Nelson ’10 scored off assists from Covelli and defenseman Andrew Stevenson ’10. The second period was all Amherst, as Powers and Landers each picked up their second goals of the weekend to put Amherst in control. Adamo’s power-play goal seemed to put away the Camels for good, but Conn. grabbed two goals to bring the game to within two heading into the final frame. Schoppel fired home his team-leading 12th goal of the season, and 47th of his career, to seal the victory for Amherst.
The Jeffs boast the number one penalty killing unit in the league at 88.1 percent, and are second in overall defense, allowing only 2.56 goals per game. Covelli sits in the top-10 in both points and goals for the season, while LaRose and Anderson are one and two, respectively, in save percentage. Thanks to Arena, though, the Jeffs are rapidly becoming far more than the mere sum of their parts entering next weekend’s crucial contests.