This weekend, the men’s hockey team faced a huge challenge. In two days, it was scheduled to face off against its two biggest rivals — perennial hockey powerhouse Middlebury College and Little Three archrival Williams College. Both games were important to the Jeffs, who always look forward to these games against two great teams. However, the Middlebury game this year was especially meaningful; with both teams tied for first in the NESCAC, the winner of this game would clinch the conference’s regular season title and secure home ice advantage for the end of season playoffs — a feat that Amherst has never before accomplished. Over the past nine seasons, the Jeffs have failed to dethrone the Panthers from their top spot in the conference, losing to their rivals in their last 13 consecutive meetings. This year, however, that losing streak came to an abrupt halt as Amherst defeated the mighty Panthers 4-3 at Orr Rink and claimed the top position in the NESCAC.

From the first drop of the puck, everyone could see how badly the Jeffs wanted to win. In front of the biggest crowd of the season at Orr Rink, the team came out flying, beating Middlebury to loose pucks, winning one-on-one battles in both the defensive and offensive zones and generally dictating the pace of the play.

It was this extra effort and obvious display of heart that allowed the Jeffs to dominate the game in the first period, as they scored an unprecedented four goals on the Panthers in just the first 20 minutes of play. The scoring started for Amherst just three minutes into the game when senior Brendan Powers netted a rebound off assists from Joel Covelli ’09 and Shane Lennox ’09. Minutes later, sophomore Trip Wray recorded his second goal of the season off an assist from captain Jeff Landers ’09. Later, Shane Lennox ’09 found the back of the net with a rocket from the point for his second of the season followed shortly afterwards by a beautiful goal from Luke Arnold ’11, who blew past the Panthers’ defender and wristed a shot past the Middlebury goalie. The Jeffs kept the Panthers scoreless in the first with resilient defense and great goaltending by Cole Anderson ’10.

The success of the first period, however, may have given the Jeffs a false sense of security going into the second. Clearly unhappy with their play in the beginning of the game, Middlebury came back with a vengeance and caught the Jeffs a bit flatfooted. It was this, combined with a determined Middlebury counterattack, that led to the two goals the Jeffs allowed in the second.

“After the first four goals [we scored], I thought we got a bit complacent in both ends of the ice,” defenseman Andrew Stevenson ’11 said. “However, holding a third period lead against a high caliber team like Middlebury … shows the resilient character of our team.”

In the third, this resiliency shone through, as the Jeffs’ play greatly improved and they rallied to hold off the Panthers to win the game 4-3 despite being outshot 57-23. Goalie Cole Anderson, with the nation-leading lowest goals-against average (1.36) and highest save percentage (.955), made an amazing 54 saves in the victory.

After Friday’s emotional victory, the Jeffs had to turn around and prepare for the game against Amherst archrival Williams College on Saturday. After the first two periods of play, the game remained scoreless due to great goaltending on both sides despite many scoring chances by both the Jeffs and the Ephs. On the Jeffs’ Senior Day, it was only fitting that the class of 2009 would break the stalemate by scoring the first goal of the game. Three seniors would contribute to the goal scored by Will Collins and assisted by Joel Covelli and Brendan Powers. After the first goal was scored, the Jeffs turned around and banked five more goals, trouncing Williams in the third to make the final score 6-0. Landers found the back of the net as did Covelli, Mark Colp ’12, and Eddie Effinger ’12 (who scored twice). Senior Rylan Burns recorded two assists along with Keith Nelson ’10, and senior Ted Vickers recorded one assist along with sophomore Luke Arnold. Goalie Jonathan La Rose ’11 made 29 saves for his second shutout of the season.

With the win, Amherst extended its winning streak to 10 games and ended the regular season with an 18-4-1 (16-2-1 NESCAC) record. On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Jeffs host Tufts at Orr Rink for the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament.