The Amherst Women’s Ice Hockey team opened up its 2013-2014 campaign with two wins over Hamilton this past weekend. Thanks to their success this weekend, the Jeffs opened up their season with a 2-0-0 NESCAC as well as overall record.
Friday night the Jeffs traveled to Clinton, NY where they narrowly edged out their opponent 4-3. Erin Martin ’16 opened up the scoring for the season with 6:45 left in the first period. The Continentals fought back in the second period, putting away two goals to garnish a 2-1 lead heading into the third period thanks to Gigi Garner feeding first-year teammates Teal Gosselin and Sara Taffe for the goals.
The Jeffs stole the momentum back in the beginning of the third period. In a span of 3:27, Hayley Opperman ’14 and Lynndy Smith ’17 notched a goal a piece, both assisted by Courtney Baranek ’14. However, the score was tied up again when Taffe fed Fraser this time for a one-time shot past the Amherst net minder, Kerri Stuart ’14. The Jeffs landed themselves back on top after Baranek notched a power-play goal with 2:46 left in regulation.
In this first win, Stuart had 19 saves, including one key stop with 30 seconds left to preserve the lead. Amherst held a 23-22 favor in shots on goal and was one for five in power-play opportunities. The Continentals were one for seven on the power play.
Baranek commented on the Jeffs’ comeback victory, “We showed resilience fighting back from a 2-1 goal deficit to win 4-3 on Friday, and hopefully our efforts will continue to pay off as we work to improve.”
On Saturday, the Jeffs hosted the Continentals at their home opener at Orr Rink. This time, the Jeffs came out on top 3-0. Tori Salmon ’15 led the offensive effort with two goals and one assist. The first of these goals came off a rebound from Martin’s shot with 15 seconds remaining in the first period.
The second period started off with some close chances for the Jeffs. Emily Flom ’15 sped past Hamilton defenders, but her shot was saved. Opperman ’14 also had a close scoring chance that came off the post. The Continentals were close to tying the game on a power play, but Stuart whisked the puck off the goal line to preserve the lead.
After this series of saves, the Jeffs retaliated with Salmon feeding Martin this time for the Jeffs’ second tally of the game.
With 13 seconds remaining, Salmon cruised down the left side of the ice. She sent a shot to the upper right corner to seal the 3-0 victory.
In this matchup, the Jeffs held a much more decisive shot advantage than Friday’s matchup, recording 28 shots on goal to the Continentals’ ten. Stuart recorded ten saves in the shutout while her counterpart, Bogen, recorded 25 stops.
Opperman commented on her team’s season opening wins, “I think this weekend was a great start to our season. We have a lot of first-years on the team this year and they really stepped up this weekend and played confidently. What we discovered this weekend was that we have a good base, but we still have a lot of work to do and hopefully we keep improving as the season progresses.”
We will witness the Jeffs’ progression when they return to action on Friday, Nov. 22 to take on little-three rival, Wesleyan in Middletown, Conn. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
