Once again we ran out of time yesterday against Amherst as our rally fell just short against the Lord Jeffs.  After being down 11-6 late in the 3rd quarter we cut it to 12-11 with just over two minutes to play.  With a charged up crowd on hand and all the momentum on our side I don't think there was a person in Alumni Stadium that thought we'd lose the game when we scored our 11th goal. I was certain we'd complete the comeback when Amherst committed a penalty with a minute to go but unfortunately the look we generated for our best finisher on the doorstep was stuffed and we weren't able to get the ball back as time ran out.

The intensity and confidence that our team played with down the stretch against Amherst is what I've been waiting to see from this group all season.  Now that we've experienced what it's like to play that hard and to overwhelm an opponent with our relentless pressure I expect our team to play like that the rest of the way.

Amherst is an incredibly talented offensive team as we witnessed throughout the game but it was especially apparent in the third quarter as they scored four goals on their first four shots of the half and ended up scoring on 5 of their 10 shots in the 2nd half.  To put that in perspective, we scored on 6 of our 31 shots in the 2nd half.  There's no question that finishing continues to be an issue for our team.  I believe that shooting/finishing is an inherent trait to a certain extent but that much like shooting in basketball, if you put the time in during the off season and before/after practice that you can't help but get better…  I hope by next Saturday we're just a little better at finishing and that it's enough to make a difference against Trinity, the only undefeated team in NESCAC play and the team with the best goalie.

I've been asking this group to believe in themselves, in one another, and to believe in this team for weeks now and even in a loss yesterday I think we finally do.  We'll see how things go this week in preparation for Trinity but I fully expect our best week of practice of the year and to come out flying against the Bantams in Hartford next weekend.