Women
On a 75-degree day last Thursday, the women’s team scorched Wheaton College 13-5 on the strength of two four-consecutive-goal spurts.
The game actually started on a sour note for the Jeffs, as the Lyons took the early lead on a nifty wrap-around goal. But about three minutes later, senior Hannah Walker equalized for the Jeffs with a free-position goal from straightaway. Junior Kelley Trapp put the Jeffs ahead 2-1 on an assist from senior co-captain Kathleen Scheld, and first-year Hillary Denson and Walker followed up with goals of their own to give the Jeffs the 4-1 edge with 21:10 left in the first half.
Walker scored for a third time in the half off of a feed from sophomore Julia Viani, and goals by Allie Horwitz ’12 and Wyatt Davis ’13 put the Jeffs ahead comfortably, 7-2. The Lyons would tack on one more goal before the end of the half to make it 7-3.
Neither team managed a score for the start of the second frame, but the Lyons made things interesting with another score, cutting the deficit to 7-4 with 23:21 remaining. But the Jeffs quickly doused any potential drama, as they went on to outscore their opponent 6-1 over the remainder of the game. Densen picked up her second goal of the day, while Walker and Trapp had four points apiece. Horwitz and first-year Marta Randall also ended the day with two goals each.
Horwitz, Randall and Davis figured prominently in the Jeffs’ next game, against Williams, as they pushed the team out to a 5-2 advantage over their archrivals in Williamstown. The trio of Horwitz, Scheld and Densen took over in the second half, propping the Jeffs up with an 8-3 lead.
With only 7:48 left in regulation, the tide turned quickly against the Jeffs, as they surrendered six goals in 6:48 to fall behind 9-8. Sophomore goalkeeper Lamia Harik finished with six saves on the game, but floundered along with the rest of the team’s defense down the stretch.
The Jeffs will look to regain their winning ways tomorrow afternoon in a conference matchup with Middlebury College at 5:30 p.m. on Gooding Field.
Men
The men’s team had its three-game winning streak snapped after a 14-6 loss at Middlebury last Wednesday.
The Panthers pounced early and often, as they put two goals into the back of the net just 76 seconds into the game. Senior co-captain Thomas McDonnell scored at the end of the first, as he used sophomore Evan Redwood’s assist to get past the goalie. From there, it was all Panthers, however, as the Middlebury lax bros rattled off five straight goals to make it 7-1 with 10:30 remaining before the half.
McDonnell, this time using a helper from sophomore Dan Routh, narrowed the gap to 7-2, and Redwood followed with an unassisted goal a few minutes later to cut the deficit to 8-3 after a Middlebury score. But the Panthers still seemed to have all the answers, burning sophomore goaltender Sam Jakimo with only 15 seconds left in the half.
The second half was much of the same, as the Jeffs managed to scrap together goals from Routh and fellow sophomore Cole Cherney, only to have them sandwiched by five goals from the Panthers. Jakimo finished with eight saves in his first loss of the season, while McDonnell, Routh and Redwood combined for a very solid seven points on offense.
In their next game, the Jeffs made a timely investment in their postseason plans, as they won a pivotal matchup against Williams to gain the head-to-head edge in the clumped NESCAC standings.
In a defensive slugfest that merely featured a combined 12 goals, Williams struck first, lighting the scoreboard with 5:21 left in the opening quarter. Amherst first-year Jeff Izzo answered a few minutes later with a goal of his own, after he picked up a groundball off of a rebound. Cherney fed off the momentum by scoring a goal with less than a minute remaining in the first. In sharp contrast to the Middlebury game, the Jeffs had locked up a lead by the end of the first. “We go in with the mindset that we are going to outscore the other team in the first quarter. Once we get that done, we move on to the second,” said Routh. “Williams scored the first goal, but we responded quickly with the next two goals, allowing us to win the first quarter and eventually the game.”
The Ephs tallied two of their own goals to regain the lead in the second, before Routh knotted the score at three all about two minutes before halftime. This would become a recurring theme, as the game’s five ties, interspersed throughout all four quarters, revealed the gravity of what was at stake, even in such an early-season tilt.
Redwood scored the eventual game-winner on a creative top-left to middle dodge with 4:32 left in the game, and McDonnell sealed the deal with his second goal of the day. Izzo’s three points led the Jeffs, while Jakimo made 10 saves.
The Jeffs will travel to Springfield this evening for a 7 p.m. date with Springfield College.