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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The NESCAC-leading Lord Jeffs of Amherst
(17-2-4) wasted little time getting ahead at the Lansing Chapman
Rink this afternoon, and unlike last night, they made sure that the
Ephs of Williams College (10-10-2) would be unable to claw back
into contention, as they blanked the purple and gold by a final of
8-0. The shutout defeat bumps Williams down to 7-6-1 in the
conference, just a game over 5th-place Bowdoin; it also marks the
most goals Williams has allowed to an opponent all season.
Amherst adds even more distance between them and Trinity with this
win, climbing to 12-1-3 in NESCAC play.
Surprisingly, Amherst actually accumulated four less shots than
they did the previous contest, registering 38 attempts over three
periods to the Ephs 20. The Eph defense was most successful
in the first period, limiting the Jeffs to just 11 shots and 2
scores, both of which were the result of unfavorable ricochetes on
loose puck scrums in front of the net. Junior forward Cianna
Wyshnytzky was credited with the first of these trickle-in goals at
3:23, and the other was given to senior forward Molly Malloy.
Despite these unfortunate bounces, Williams looked to be skating
more aggresively than in the opening twenty minutes of yesterday's
game, putting 7 pucks on net in the period.
The middle frame was not as evenly contested, as evidenced by
the three Amherst scores and the 12-5 shot differential.
Although Williams was moving the puck well through the neutral
zone, they could not penetrate the stingy blue line front of the
Lord Jeff defense. And just when the Eph attack gained some
momentum off a miraculous save by senior goaltender Sara Plunkett
on a 2-on-0 breakaway, the Jeffs squashed this confidence via a
fall-down goal by sophomore Emily Vitale, who pounced on the big
rebound created by a low, hard slapshot by senior defenseman
Kirsten Dier.
Shortly after, the deadly Amherst power-play was given the
opportunity to do further damage, and a bad bounce off another big
rebound did just that. Sophomore Stephanie Clegg was marked
down for the score, although it appeared to be an Eph leg that
deflected the puck past Plunkett. The Jeffs drove the dagger
deeper in the final thirty seconds with a short-handed stunner off
the stick of senior Michelle McGann, who knocked a bobbled puck by
a diving Plunkett to give Amherst a 5-0 advantage headed into the
final period.
McGann added another just 2:05 into the third courtesy of a
beautiful feed from the corner by Randi Zukas, who found her
unguarded teammate at the far post. The wide-open sweep-in
score was the veteran's 7th this season. Even down a skater
with a convincing lead, the Jeffs continued the onslaught, as
junior forward Courtney Hanlon took a long outlet pass from Zukas
and beat both the sole Eph defender in her way and Plunkett with
some skillful sitckwork and a blsitering top corner wrist
shot. The tri-captain's 12th notch of the year outsted
Plunkett from competition, and freshman backup Cahterine Tremble
entered to finish out regulation. The rookie was given much
the same treatment by the Jeffs attack, surrendering the eighth and
final goal to freshman Geneva Lloyd, who with an assist on the
Vitale score now has a team-leading 24 points.
Williams will have a week to regroup from this difficult loss,
as they host another important weekend of conference matchups,
before beginning play in the NESCAC tournament. The action
will start against 8th-place Colby at 7:00PM this friday in
Williamstown.
