The outcome was reminiscent of the Amherst-Williams contest during the regular season, in which the Jeffs held a 1-0 lead until the final minute of regulation but surrendered a last-minute goal. The resulting tie cost the Jeffs home field advantage in the NESCAC Tournament. And so on Sunday, at Williams, the Jeffs suffered a similar heartbreak, except this time much more was on the line.
Amherst looked like it might be in trouble early as the Ephs had stellar chances to score in the opening minutes of the game. Goalkeeper Allie Horwitz ’12 made a spectacular save to preserve the scoreless tie. However, Williams would be the first team to score, notching a goal 18 minutes into the first frame. The Jeffs equalized the score five minutes later as junior midfielder Meg Murphy capitalized on a rebound to knock the ball past the Eph goalkeeper. A little more than 30 minutes into the game, Jackie Hirsch ’11 gathered a feed from Murphy and converted to put the Jeffs up 2-1 heading into the break.
Williams looked strong in the second half, threatening the Jeffs’ lead. Amherst stood tough, however, repelling countless attacks from the Eph offense. But when it looked like the Lord Jeffs were finally home free, the defense cracked, allowing Williams to tie up the match with under five minutes left in the game to force extra time. Amherst could not rebound from the devastating blow and it took the Ephs just 2:38 of overtime to claim the victory with a third goal.
Though they lost, the Jeffs showed, as they have multiple times this season, that they can compete with the top teams in the nation. “We were able to play with Williams for the entire duration of the game, which is an accomplishment, as they have been rated number one in the nation all year,” said quad-captain defender Kate Bentley ’09. “We gave them quite a game and almost were able to pull out the win, although things didn’t land in our favor. We played a great game and are coming off that performance into the start of NCAAs with positive momentum.”
The weekend wasn’t a complete wash, however. Prior to the game against Williams, the Jeffs defeated Middlebury College, the squad that had knocked them out of the conference tournament for two years running. The Jeffs got redemption, picking up a 1-0 win and a spot in the tournament championship.
Though the Jeffs outshot the Panthers 8-1 and had five more corner kicks in the first period, they simply could not find the back of the net and the half ended in a scoreless tie. The Panthers showed a little more backbone in the second stanza, creating more scoring opportunities and controlling play nearly as much as Amherst.
But the Jeffs would have none of it. With just over 12 minutes left in the game, Murphy notched her team-leading 11th goal of the season, as she took control of the ball outside of the 18-yard box and sent a shot screaming past the Middlebury goalkeeper to give her team the 1-0 win.
The 2-1 loss in overtime ended the Jeffs’ dreams of a NESCAC title. It did not, however, end the Jeffs’ season. On Saturday Amherst will play Farmingdale State (N.Y.) at Springfield College in the first round of the Div. III NCAA Tournament.
With their stellar record of 11-2-3, the Jeffs claimed a high seed in the national tournament and will face Farmingdale State University on Saturday in the first round of the Div. III NCAA Tournament.
“If we are going to win the NCAA title, we have to do one of the things we’ve been focusing on all season: playing for 90 minutes with no letdowns,” said Bentley. “We have set high expectations for ourselves and need to come out full force in every game to make it to the Final Four, but also recognize that we can’t underestimate the strength of anyone we’re going to play on the way to our goal.”
“In the NESCAC Tournament, each game is about survival,” added Hirsch. “Both teams were fighting for their lives the entire game, and Meg’s goal just put us over the top. We dominated the majority of the game—we were the better team.”