Amherst has been lead by their defense for most of the season but found an offensive groove against the Cardinals and Continentals. “We really focused on getting as many shots on net as possible. Whenever we got it into the offensive zone, it was all about taking it to the net, and it seemed to work for us,” said Courtney Hanlon ’11.
In the Saturday match-up in Middletown, Conn., the Lord Jeffs began the scoring just over five minutes into the game when sophomore Courtney Hanlon tallied her seventh goal of the season. Amherst’s first score alone would have been enough for the win, as goalies Krystyn Elek ’10 and Sinead Murphy ’12 combined to shut out the Cardinals. Yet senior Tarasai Karega and sophomores Randi Zukas and Brittney Evans scored before Hanlon beat the Wesleyan netminder for her second goal of the game to complete the 5-0 shutout.
Amherst then journeyed to Clinton, N.Y., for its second conference game of the weekend. The game was similarly one-sided with the Lord Jeffs coming away with a second win by five goals. First-year Emily Vitale and junior Kirsten Dier assisted on sophomore Braidie Campbell’s second goal of the season, as Amherst converted on its first power-play opportunity just three and a half minutes into the game. Hamilton leveled the score on a short-handed goal just two minutes later.
The Lord Jeffs responded with four unanswered power-play goals as senior Lindsey Harrington — twice —junior Michelle McGann and Dier all converted on the extra-man advantage. Amherst is second in the NESCAC in power-play percentage with a conversion rate of 24.3%. Hanlon finished off the Lord Jeffs’ scoring with her team-leading ninth goal of the season. Sophomore Caroline Hu, the third Amherst goalie of the weekend, got the win, making nine saves along the way.
Prior to the weekend, Amherst picked up its first nonconference win with a 3-2 home victory over New England College.
With the scoring outburst over the weekend, Amherst crept closer to taking away Middlebury’s current position as the most prolific offense in the NESCAC. Amherst’s 4.42 goals per game average puts the Jeffs only .03 points behind the league-leading Panthers.
Though the Lord Jeffs’ offensive numbers are impressive, it has been the defense that has lead the team. Amherst has held its conference opponents to just a goal a game, over half a point better than the nearest competitor. Additionally, the Lord Jeffs have killed 58 of their opponents’ 60 power-play chances. The 96.7% rate is second-best in the NESCAC.
Several individuals are having stellar season, as Hanlon, Harrington and McGann are tied for second, seventh, and ninth in conference scoring respectively. Amherst can also boast of having two of the premier goalies in the NESCAC, as Elek and Hu sit atop the conference in goals-against average.
Amherst will hit the road again next week with back-to-back nonconference tilts against Rochester Institute of Technology and Buffalo State College. Next weekend precedes what may be the biggest game for the Lord Jeffs, as on Feb. 14 they will host Middlebury at Orr Rink. Currently, Amherst is two and a half games ahead of the Panthers in the NESCAC standings and will clinch the regular season conference title with a win in that game.