The Amherst men’s lacrosse team bounced back from a three-game losing streak to crush Little Three foe and archrival Williams College on home turf this past Saturday. The 17-8 victory raised the Jeffs’ ranking to seventh place in the NESCAC, with a 7-5 conference record, and caused the Ephs to fall to the bottom of the rankings, at 4-5.

After a win over Connecticut College two weeks ago, the Jeffs struggled to maintain their standing in conference rankings. Having lost in recent weeks to Trinity College, Middlebury College and Little Three rival Wesleyan University, Amherst’s victory over Williams had been more than necessary.

“We had lost a couple of tough games in the NESCAC recently, and we really needed to beat Williams to keep our playoff hopes alive,” said tri-captain Chris Fitzpatrick ’09.

And trounce them, they did. The Jeffs stormed out of the gates, netting four goals in the first quarter. The first two were scored by midfielder J.T. Milone ’09 without assists. The next two were scored by senior tri-captain midfielders Will Ferrer and T.J. Jackson, before Williams managed to net one goal. Jackson and Milone contributed three more Jeff goals in the second quarter, before Brett Miller ’09 assisted Thomas Foote ’09 on a goal to end the quarter at 8-2.

In the third quarter, sophomore Alex Miller managed to net a goal with 20 seconds remaining on the clock. Ferrer picked up the game from there, netting another with just five seconds in the quarter. He then scored an impressive third goal in the fourth and final quarter of the game, drawing the closing score to a 17-8 Eph domination. Jeff goalie Matt Pietroforte ’09 was a solid force in the net, saving 18 shots.

The leading Jeff scorers were senior tri-captains Jackson with five, Ferrer with four and Milone, who also scored four. On the attack, Brett Miller was a strong force, feeding his teammates a total of six assists. The combination of strong play and a focused team were key to the Jeffs’ domination.

“This was a fantastic win for our team. We got a great effort out of everyone on the team and proved to ourselves that if we can play hard for four quarters we can beat any team we face,” said Fitzpatrick.

Now, the Jeffs have to keep the momentum going as they face off against rival Bowdoin College next Saturday. They can, however, still bask in the glow of Saturday’s win.

“Saturday was a pivotal moment in our season. We put together a complete team effort, exceeded our true potential and crushed our biggest rival. We couldn’t have had a better day,” said Brett Miller.