Amherst’s sophomore goalie Sinead Murphy tended the net for the second time this year, and recorded her second shutout of the season. Trinity’s senior goalie Isabel Iwachiw also had a solid night in the crease, and was able to rise up to the task of stopping the Jeffs offensive onslaught. Unfortunately, both sides were unable to score during regulation, and the scoring drought continued in overtime as the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
As the snow fell outside the warm, friendly confines of Orr Rink, a game of epic proportions took place on the ice on Saturday. In a seesaw battle between Trinity and Amherst, 60 minutes of hard-fought hockey created an image of last year’s national champions.
The Lord Jeffs played solid hockey in the first period. Defensively, the Jeffs didn’t allow the Bantams many chances, limiting them to just one shot on goal, which was easily saved by junior goalie Caroline Hu. In the few instances that the Bantams were able to set up an offensive attack, it was immediately deflated by the Jeffs’ defense. On the year, the Jeffs have put up a whopping 190 more shots on goal compared to their opponents (240 shots on goal to 45 shots on goal).
On top of the excellent defense was a graceful, yet powerful offensive attack led by captains Kate Dennet ’10 and Courtney Hanlon ’11. On the agenda for the Jeffs was to keep the pressure on Bantam goalie Iwachiw. “Trinity’s goalie was consistently coming up with big saves all weekend,” said Hanlon, “but we knew if we kept shooting we would get a few to go in.” This is precisely what happened for the Jeffs. The scoring started for Amherst in the first period, with Dennet deflecting a shot from junior defenseman Randi Zukas into the net on the power play. Less than a minute later, senior captain Kirsten Dier redirected a pass that fluttered up and over the Trinity goalie into the back of the net to give the Lord Jeffs a 2-0 lead.
Of course, every team will encounter a few hiccups here and there, and this came to light in the second period. After a little more than six minutes of play, the Bantams scored on a breakaway goal to decrease the lead by one. The Bantams scored again on a power play goal midway through the period, tying the game and consequently deflating the atmosphere of the devout Amherst fans.
Although two goals slipped by Hu, she later made a highlight save that electrified the hometown fans once more. With a wide open net off a blocked shot to her right, The Bantams tried to score an easy goal off the rebound. Hu was able to shift to her left and make a brilliant glove save, perhaps the best save of the night. The Jeffs took this momentum into the third period in need of a goal to take the lead.
Entering the third period with the score locked at two, the Jeffs skated to a fast and powerful start, opening the period with an offensive attack similar to that in the first period. After a little over seven minutes into the period, Zukas found a glimmer of daylight from the blue line as her slap shot beat the Trinity goalie on the power play.
With a 3-2 lead, the Jeffs defense came out to shut down any potential threat put up by the Bantams. Throughout the rest of the period, the Bantams became more and more apt to breaching the Amherst front line, but the Jeffs were able to quiet all attacks that came their way, clearing the puck and creating outlets to relieve the pressure. The Jeffs were able to hold on to the lead before the final whistle, giving them a 3-2 win and plenty of momentum going into this week’s series against seventh ranked Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
The upcoming series against RIT will certainly be one of the most important series of the year for the Lord Jeffs. After losing to the Tigers in each game the last two years, Amherst is excited and ready to take their game plan in front of the home fans. According to head coach Jim Plumer, “RIT is a bigger team, but the team is ready to play against them.” After scoring the game-winning goal on Saturday, Zukas is also excited to play the team. “This upcoming RIT weekend is going to be huge! We have lost to RIT two out of two games we have played against them in the past two years, so obviously we want to beat them. Also, this is our first game against a ranked opponent this season and we need to have a great showing to assert ourselves in the Div. III as well as give our team some momentum and confidence before we have our winter break.”
The Jeffs will take on the Tigers this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, at Orr Rink and try to improve their record to 5-0-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the NESCAC Conference.