Women
The women’s team made their presence in the NESCAC felt early on this year, as they trounced Middlebury College 8-5 last Wednesday. The Panthers, traditionally a NESCAC powerhouse with an 80-5 record since conference play began in 2001, came into the game having only lost once in their past 17 meetings with the Jeffs. There was no place for history that day however, as the Jeffs used a second-half flurry to bury the Panthers.
The first half featured evenhanded scoring from both teams, even though the Jeffs dominated the ground balls (11-3) and held a slight edge in shots (12-9). After Amherst gave up the quickest goal of the season in the first 24 seconds of action, the team calmly regrouped and first-year Wyatt Davis beat the Panther’s goalie off of a Kelley Trapp ’11 assist just 68 seconds later. After another Middlebury tally, sophomore Allie Horwitz knotted the score at 2-2 about 11 minutes into the game. Sophomore Lindsey Moran then stepped up, scoring twice in the span of three minutes to put Amherst ahead 4-3. But with a little less than three minutes remaining before halftime, the Jeffs gave up that lead after the Panthers converted a turnover into a scoring opportunity at the other end of the field.
Senior co-captain Kathleen Scheld recaptured the Jeffs’ lead early on in the second half, zipping the ball passed the opposing goalie on a free position shot. The next 20 minutes of action were devoid of scoring, as Harik ended up with 10 saves on the game in anchoring a stout Amherst defense. First-year Marta Randall rewarded their tenacity with 8:29 left in regulation, slashing through the Middlebury backfield for an unassisted goal. The Panthers came right back, however, scoring a goal of their own to bring the score back to 6-5.
Davis had other plans though, as she tipped the momentum back in the Jeffs’ favor with an unassisted tally of her own less than a minute later. Randall tacked on an insurance goal with 43 seconds left in the game to finish with two goals on the game.
Things were not quite so bright for the Jeffs in their next game, as a trip to Maine for a bout with Colby featured heavy snowfall that piled up as the day went on. The weather put a damper on the team’s offensive rhythm, as they managed only four goals in a 9-4 loss to the Mules.
Colby commanded nearly every facet of the game in the early going, scoring four goals in the first 15 minutes of action. After the Jeffs had fallen behind 5-2, Davis helped the Jeffs inch to within 5-3 on an unassisted score early in the second half, but the Mules thwarted any Amherst attempts to score for the next 27 minutes to put the game away.
In their next game against Skidmore College, the Jeffs again fell into a developing cycle of falling behind early, this time 2-0 to the Thoroughbreds. But, like most of their games this season, the Jeffs quickly retaliated, firing three successive scores to go ahead 3-2. Denson scored two of those goals off of Trapp helpers, and Randall had the other.
The Thoroughbreds tied it up to start the second half, but Horwitz unknotted that mess with a goal at 21:11. Walker and Randall then went on a scoring spurge to give the Jeffs a permanent lead, scoring two goals each to push the lead out to 9-5. After that, getting through to the 11-3 final score was a formality. Trapp, Walker and Denson each finished the game with three points, but Randall led all scorers with four points.
The Jeffs will travel to take on Wesleyan on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Men
In a captivating series replete with barnburners, the Jeffs came up a little short against rivals Springfield College in a 10-9 overtime thriller. In their last four meetings against the Pride, the Jeffs had walked away victorious but much like in the women’s game, history did not account for very much on the field.
The Pride swarmed early and often, jumping out to a 3-0 lead about halfway through the first quarter before sophomore Alex Fox fed senior tri-captain Rob Denious for a score. Junior Matt Levine and Fox subsequently lit the scoreboard themselves to eliminate the deficit and even things out at 3-3.
It would not be until the 14:36 mark of the third period that Amherst would tie up the game again. That is when Dan Routh ’12 took an assist from classmate Cole Cherney and turned it into 5-5 game. The magic was short-lived, however, with the Pride taking over in that decisive third period by scoring three unanswered goals. Senior tri-captain Thomas McDonnell tried to spur his team on with a rare man-down goal at the end of the quarter to cut the lead to 8-6.
The Jeffs clamped down on defense at the outset of the fourth, and the offense used all their extra time to attack the Pride’s defense. They outshot Springfield 11-0 in the final frame of regulation, including two scores by sophomore Alex Fox and a timely strike from Denious to carry the game into overtime. Once overtime began, the Jeffs had trouble corralling the ball defensively, and some miscues ultimately set the stage for an Amherst loss.
In their next game, the Jeffs erased all the doubts, bewildering Colby College 12-5.
Routh wasted no time in getting the Jeffs started, kicking things off 90 seconds into the game with a one-timer off of a McDonnell assist. After Colby answered with a goal, Redwood set the table for Denious, who found the back of the net with 9:41 left in the first. “In the Springfield game, we allowed them to get a leg up on us and playing lethargically,” said Redwood. “While our late run to take the game to overtime said a lot about the mettle of our team, the final result was an extension of doing too little too late.”
Junior tri-captain Gabe Mann ignited the offensive explosion that was the Jeffs’ second quarter with an assist to classmate Parker Holcomb. With about six minutes left before the half, Redwood set Fox up with an assist and put Amherst ahead 4-2. A mere five seconds later, the Jeffs were at it again, as Holcomb went solo against the goaltender and beat him as well. McDonnell went on to ice the cake 33 seconds after that off of a Will Reed ’12 helper. By that point, Amherst had taken a firm 6-2 hold of the lead and would not look back. “Our ability to play a complete game is the reason we were able to run away with the score the way we did,” continued Redwood.
In their make-up game against non-conference opponent Mount Ida College, the Jeffs made sure that their postseason aspirations would not be hindered at home, as they destroyed the Mustangs 11-3.
Denious and McDonnell essentially ended the game in the first period, as they each scored two consecutive goals to put the Jeffs up 4-0 in the blink of an eye. Rookie Ramsey Bates poured it on with another goal, and the Jeffs started the second up 5-0. They outshot the Mustangs 15-2 in the first, and ridiculed them 55-17 for the game. Jakimo only needed to make four stops on the day.
Wesleyan University will roll into Gooding Field on Saturday for a 1 p.m. meeting with the Jeffs.