The team began the weekend with a win against Trinity College on Friday to end its regular season with a home victory on Senior Day. Prior to the game, the Jeffs honored the class of 2009 — defenseman Chris Fitzpatrick, attacker Thomas Foote, midfielder Nick Gilligan, attacker Brett Miller, midfielder Jelani Lundy-Harris, defenseman Clint Marchese, long stick midfielder Evan O’Roark, goalkeeper Matt Pietroforte and midfielder Tim Thornton — for their contributions to the program.
On Sunday, the Jeffs traveled to Middlebury to take on the top NESCAC seed. Amherst trailed by only a goal after the first frame, but the Panthers broke the door open with a 12-4 scoring run in the second and third frames to end the Jeffs’ playoff aspirations.
Middlebury took first blood with a goal from Mike Stone, but quad-captain Pietroforte ’09 kept the team’s hopes alive with five saves to end the first frame down only one to the second best team in the nation. However, two goals to start the second frame quickly put the Jeffs into a 3-0 hole. The Jeffs responded and got on the scoreboard with 8:58 to play in the second frame when Alex Fox ’12 scored off a feed from sophomore Luke Arnold to put Amherst back in the game.
Unfortunately, the Panthers again embarked on a vicious scoring run. In a spat of offensive fury, Middlebury scored four unanswered goals in six minutes to take a commanding 7-1 lead. With 15 seconds to play, junior J.T. Milone scored off an assist from Fox to end the half trailing by five. To start the second half, the Panthers scored a trio of goals in about a minute before the Jeffs found their rhythm, trading two goals each, with Amherst’s goals coming from Fox and Foote. Middlebury’s offense then took command again to rack up five goals to close the third and start the fourth. Never ones to give up, the Jeffs had the last word, scoring the final three goals of the match on even strength. With 5:55 to play, Miller scored unassisted, followed by another unassisted score at 4:19 by sophomore Luke Arnold to bring the Lord Jeffs’ score to 6. Miller scored again off an assist from Arnold in the final minute to end the Jeffs’ season.
Head Coach Thomas Carmean shared his thoughts on the team’s season. “Having a season end so abruptly is always difficult and even more so with such an outstanding group of seniors. It is also difficult to sum up a season such as this because there were so many ups and downs, so much growth and some very disappointing results that on paper do not reflect the commitment and work ethic of this team.”
With the conclusion of a volatile season with close wins and close defeats, one thing can be assured: The team’s future is in good hands. Although faced with a tough first season with the Jeffs, Amherst has a strong team of first-years who have already made significant contributions to the team and can only look to gain from this season’s experience. “Some real positives that can be taken away come from the talent level and contributions of the younger players on the team. In an average game, we were able to play six to seven freshmen in various roles and that kind of real game experience will pay off next year,” said Carmean.
Combined with a series of strong returnees, including the team’s scoring leaders Tom McDonnell ’10 and Milone, the team is in prime position for a strong 2010 season.