In the first round of the NESCAC Championships on Sunday, however, the Jeffs — entering the tournament as the No. 3 seed — fell 3-0 to No. 6 Bowdoin College. Testifying to the competitiveness of the NESCAC, the opening round of the 2009-10 championships also saw No. 5 Williams College upset No. 4 Middlebury College on the road, while Tufts University and Trinity College both advanced with narrow-margin victories.
On Friday, both Amherst and Trinity came out of the opening half scoreless. After the Bantams’ goalkeeper deflected sophomore forward Chrissy Cantore’s shot, tri-captain Molly Malloy ’10 knocked in the rebound to score just two minutes into the second half.
“After Molly’s goal against Trinity, we were able to relax out there and just play our game for the rest of the second half,” said junior forward Liz Schink. “Trinity picked it up in the last 20 minutes of play, and we had to fend off a lot of pressure. We really went into defensive gear in those last 20 minutes, knowing that, if Trinity didn’t score, we would win.”
Thanks to the Jeffs’ impenetrable defense, Malloy’s lone goal ended up being the game-winner. Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Vitale tallied seven saves throughout the match to frustrate the Bantams’ offense.
“Our ability to out-maneuver Trinity began with our passing in the defense. That our defense was able to shutout Trinity, a feat that no other team was able to accomplish this season, speaks for itself,” said Schink. “Our defenders and midfielders were able to mark out key players for Trinity, while Emily came up with some big saves and key moments, which kept our confidence up and allowed us to figure things out offensively.”
The Jeffs also had a chance to widen the score margin to 2-0 when Malloy carried the ball within the striking zone with 13 minutes left on the clock, but her shot went just wide of the cage. “Everyone did what they needed to on Trinity, and that is what it took to win. We are not a team of individuals, and I imagine that it is hard for other teams to eliminate one or two key Amherst players, since we are so strong across the board. This quality makes us unstoppable when we all show up to play. And, in the Trinity game, every one of us showed up,” concluded Schink.
Against Bowdoin College, the Jeffs failed to gain the offensive edge early on in the game. The Polar Bears scored a pair of goals within the first 15 minutes of the starting whistle and took a 10-2 advantage in shots. Senior tri-captain Tierney Healey nearly blocked Bowdoin from attaining its first goal but the ball tipped over the goal line despite her impressive attempt to clear the opponent’s shot. Not settling for a 2-0 lead, the Polar Bears pressured the Jeffs into playing on the defensive and netted their final goal at the 50:37 mark to claim a 3-0 victory.
Even though the Jeffs had a short-lived performance in the NESCAC Championships, Amherst could still receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The final selections will be announced next week after the conference championships draw to a close.