On the heels of a 20-game winning streak, the women’s soccer team suffered its first ­­— and only — defeat of the 2011 season against top-ranked Messiah in the NCAA Quarterfinals last Sunday, losing by a 3-1 score. The No. 8 Jeffs finished the year with a sterling 20-1-0 overall mark, setting a program record for wins in a season.

After an undefeated regular season and a NESCAC championship victory over Williams, the Jeffs cruised through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, defeating both Castleton State and Misericordia by a 3-1 result.

One of the most successful seasons in men’s soccer history ended Nov. 19 in a tough 2-1 loss to the Stevens Institute of Technology in the NCAA Round of 16.

“I had such a great time coaching this team this season,” head caoch Justin Serpone said. “To go on a journey like that with such a special team is something I will cherish and remember for a long time.” Despite the loss, Serpone was proud of what his team achieved: “Winning our second NESCAC Championship and setting a program record for wins is an amazing accomplishment.”

Women

On Nov. 19 the women’s cross country squad finished 11th at the NCAA Championships in Winneconne, Wis.
The 12th-ranked Lord Jeffs finished behind fellow NESCAC teams Middlebury and Williams, the second- and third-place finishers, respectively, in the field of 32 teams.

Standout Keri Lambert ’13 led the Jeffs with a time of 21:12.68 in the 6 kilometer race, placing fifth individually and becoming the first Amherst top-ten finisher at NCAA in three years.

I had exactly five tabs open on Google Chrome when I wrote this rant. The first tab was Grooveshark, my main source for finding and listening to music. The second was for my email, which I need to check constantly for class and which basically accounts for half of my contact with the world outside of Amherst. The other half is taken care of by the third tab, Facebook. Facebook functions as my only social life during times when I’m stressed or just too busy to leave my room and face the sunlight.

Stargazing has never been so devastating.

“Melancholia,” the latest work by controversial Danish director Lars von Trier (“Breaking the Waves,” “Dogville,” “Antichrist”) pieces together the final days before the end of the world through two sisters with opposite personalities, the impulsive but charming Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and the controlled, serious Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). A visual feast, the film takes its title from the planet about to collide with and destroy Earth.

Currently in its third season, “Glee” has evolved considerably from the cheery celebration-of-the-underdog show it embodied when it first aired in 2009. A satire on the world of small-town high schools, the show follows the lives of the members of a high school glee club and all of the traumas they suffer at the bottom of the social ladder.

As the temperature drops here at Amherst, many more of us become accustomed to just rolling out of bed in the morning, throwing on a sweater and jeans and running to class. It’s convenient, quick and comfortable in the freezing weather. Not to mention it’s hard to feel good about yourself with a runny nose, dry skin and bags under your eyes. While waking up (and getting enough sleep) is going to remain as hard as ever in the stretch before another break begins, there are remedies for the parched, cracking skin some of us face when winter approaches.

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