For the past few weeks, the men’s hockey team has been on an impressive winning streak. This weekend, the Jeffs faced off against two NESCAC rivals in heated matchups for precious points in their conference. Both games, against Colby College and Bowdoin College, proved to be difficult ones for the Jeffs, but in the end, Amherst was able to maintain composure and come out with wins against both colleges. The Jeffs have now extended their winning streak to six games.

On Friday, the Jeffs faced off against Colby. In the first period, the goalies proved to be impenetrable, rejecting each shot thrown at them and leaving the game scoreless. Finally, halfway through the second period, the Jeffs broke through the Colby goaltender when senior captain Jeff Landers netted the first two goals of the game off assists from Will Collins ’09, Brendan Powers ’09, Ted Vickers ’09 and Mark Colp ’12. In the third, Colby got on the board quickly with a goal only two minutes into the period. Amherst responded with two more goals: one by Colp and one by Olufemi Amurawaiye ’09, his first of the season, to make the score 4-1. Colby scored one last goal with less than ten seconds remaining to make the final score 4-2. Amherst’s goaltender Jonathan La Rose ’11 made 33 saves for the win.

In Saturday’s game against Bowdoin, the Jeffs found themselves fighting to maintain their lead against the resilient Polar Bears. Each time the Jeffs pulled ahead, the Bears would bounce back with a tying goal soon afterwards. After two first-period power play goals from Powers ’09 and Eddie Effinger ’12 and one goal by Bowdoin, the Jeffs led 2-1 heading into the third period. In the third, the Bears quickly tied it up 2-2 just a minute and 50 seconds in the period. Halfway through the period, Amherst took the lead again off a goal by Mike Baran ’12 that was assisted by Burns ’09. Minutes later, Bowdoin banked a controversial goal to tie the game 3-3 with only two minutes remaining, forcing the game into overtime.

It didn’t take the Jeffs long to rebound, however. Forty-nine seconds into the overtime period, Powers scored his second goal of the game off assists from Landers and Colp to win the game 4-3. In this highly competitive, close game, both teams’ goaltenders were bombarded with shots throughout the game. Amherst netminder Cole Anderson ’11 made an impressive 44 saves to lead the Jeffs in the victory.

After defeating both of their NESCAC rivals this weekend, the Jeffs remain tied for first place with Middlebury College in their conference. Next weekend, the team heads to the road to face off against St. Anselm College and New England College in two ECAC-East matchups.