Winter Storm Nemo may have altered the Amherst Women’s Ice Hockey schedule this weekend, but that didn’t deter the Lord Jeffs from taking down league rival Trinity, 5-1, on Sunday afternoon. The Bantams held an 8-1-1 record heading into Sunday’s game, but Amherst smashed that record to improve to 11-8-1 overall, and 9-3-1 in NESCAC play. The victory came after a tough 3-1 loss to non-conference opponent Norwich last Wednesday.
On Jan. 22 and 23, the CCE Athletics Liaisons facilitated a 24-hour retreat to train 19 new Athletic Team Engagement Leaders (ATELs) to effectively lead the community engagement efforts on their respective teams.
Bolstered by tenacious forechecking and surging offensive production, the men’s hockey team cruised to a pair of easy victories last weekend, defeating NESCAC bottom-feeders Conn. College 4-2 and Tufts 6-1.
The Jeffs (14-5-3, 10-4-2 NESCAC) are now preparing for the most pivotal regular season weekend of the year — a home doubleheader against Williams and Middlebury, two of Amherst’s most competitive rivals in hockey.
Of the 313 individuals enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame, 89 are coaches. So more than a quarter of the people who made basketball the way it is today did it from the sidelines. Well, in fairness, I suspect many of them spent their careers standing, yelling and waving their arms animatedly. But for the most part, pacing up and down the sidelines is as close to the action as they could have gotten. Granted, coaches have the ability to call timeouts, to call plays and to engineer overall strategy. But come game time, the hollering and hooting of coaches is background noise.
In the midst of one of the most successful stretches in program history, the Men’s Basketball team looked to build on their impressive roll as they faced off against Williams on Sunday, Feb. 10. The Jeffs entered the contest on a 14-game winning streak, having not lost since Dec. 6, and were looking to earn their 12th consecutive victory over their archrivals. Meanwhile, the No. 7-ranked Ephs shared an identical 20-2 record with Amherst and, like the Jeffs, were undefeated in conference play.
Women’s basketball’s 22-game win streak came to an abrupt halt in Williamstown on Sunday as the Ephs used a first-half run and strong individual performances to deal the Lord Jeffs their first loss of the season, 71-51. The loss, Amherst’s first against the Ephs in 11 contests, drops the third-ranked Lord Jeffs (22-1, 8-1 NESCAC) into a three-way tie atop the conference.
Women’s basketball finds itself alone atop the NESCAC after handing Tufts its first loss in a thrilling top-five matchup on Saturday. The 54-48 victory, coupled with double-digit wins over Wesleyan and Bates earlier in the week, leaves the team undefeated with just two games remaining before postseason play begins.
Wesleyan only lost by four points in its January meeting with the Lord Jeffs, but the Cardinals (9-10, 2-6 NESCAC) average the second-fewest points per game in the conference and had no answers against Amherst’s stifling defense.
