By splitting the most important weekend of the season thus far, the Jeffs made sure that a more important weekend is still yet to come. Amherst traveled to meet a pair of Maine rivals and the two teams they were chasing in the standings, Bowdoin and Colby Colleges. Balanced scoring and the continued excellence of first-years Cole Anderson and Jonathan LaRose in goal helped Amherst move into a tie for third place in the league, and a step closer to hosting a first-round playoff game. Joel Covelli ’09 expressed the Jeffs’ desire to host a playoff game at Orr Rink. “We’ve worked too hard to let home-ice slip away in the last couple weekends. It’s pretty important to earn a home game.”
Friday night, Covelli, a transfer student from Colby, was matched against his former teammates in front of over 700 people. With the Jeffs down a goal in the second period, Covelli found forward Mike McIntosh ’08 on the power-play to bring the Jeffs level with the White Mules. In a very even game, Anderson kept the Jeffs level, finishing with 22 saves on the night. Colby stole the lead with eight minutes remaining in the second frame, and Amherst was unable to mount a comeback, falling 2-1. “The decisive factor in the outcome was our inability to convert on our opportunities, especially in the third period,” said Covelli. “We had lots of chances to tie the game but just didn’t capitalize.”
With a critical loss the evening before, Amherst had added pressure as they traveled to meet the best home-team in the NESCAC, Bowdoin. The Polar Bears had not lost one game at home all season, and this current group of Amherst seniors had never defeated Bowdoin. In fact, Bowdoin has ended the Jeffs’ season three consecutive years. “I think all the guys were especially pumped to get a little revenge for the seniors and for Amherst hockey,” said Jack Baer ’10. “It’s huge to win at a place like Bowdoin. They have a great old barn where a ton of very vocal fans show up to cheer their team on and to razz their opponents.”
For the second consecutive night, the Jeffs fell behind in the first period and Bowdoin took the lead into the locker room. But Amherst was ready to battle. “I definitely think there was a different energy at Bowdoin this past weekend,” said Baer. Much of the energy can be attributed to the gutsy performance of LaRose, who played despite battling an illness. “LaRose played awesome in the first period when the rest of our team did not. He kept us in the game early and allowed us to settle down and get our team back on track.” Amherst drew even when defenseman Jeff Landers ’09 fired home his fifth goal of the season and Gavin Carson ’11 picked up the assist. Bowdoin regained the lead heading into the third period, where Anderson relieved LaRose. The always-modest Baer scored the game-tying goal six minutes into the final stanza. “We were able to catch Bowdoin in a quick transition when Matt Rhone ’11 got the puck at our team’s blue line and fed me an unbelievable tape-to-tape saucer pass that went over the defenseman’s stick on to mine as I got behind both Bowdoin defensemen. I deked to my backhand and was fortunate enough to get the puck to slide through the goalie’s five-hole as he was sliding across to stop me.”
At the 7:32 mark of the final period, the Jeffs went ahead for good: senior co-captain Rob Stevenson, a defenseman who had get to score a goal this season, took a pass from Baer and netted the game winner.
For the Jeffs, the win answers many of the questions that have surrounded Amherst hockey over the past three years. Winning at Bowdoin gives them the confidence necessary to beat any team in the country. “Beating Bowdoin on the road is as tough as beating anybody,” said Covelli. “I think our road wins both there and [at] Oswego State earlier in the year should give us the confidence to win anywhere.”