Amherst women's hockey coach Jim Plumer is no stranger to success in the NESCAC Tournament.
While an assistant at Bowdoin for three years, Plumer helped lead the Polar Bears to the conference title in the tournament's inaugural season in 2002 and a return trip to the finals the next year, as Bowdoin established itself as a conference heavyweight.
But at no time has the Jeffs' fourth-year coach been part of a run as improbable as the one he embarked on over the past two weeks. Third-seeded Amherst, which before this season was 0-5 all-time in the NESCAC Tournament, won three overtime games, including the championship bout in three extra frames, to claim the program's first-ever conference title on Sunday.
"First of all, I would say - wow," Plumer said. "I knew we had the talent to compete with the best teams. We got so much confidence from pulling out some close games that we played down the stretch [of the regular season], and it's allowed us to have more fun in the way we played and feel less pressured. This weekend was a culmination of that because we had nothing to lose. The kids just went out there and played."
Sunday's title game was easily the most dramatic stage of Amherst's emotionally-charged three-game run to the championship. Facing top-seeded and two-time defending NESCAC champion Middlebury on the road as a heavy underdog, the Jeffs, thanks to a huge effort from freshman goaltender Krystyn Elek, stayed even with the Panthers through five periods of hockey, despite being out-shot 66-21.
When the game entered its third overtime - an unprecedented event in NESCAC Tournament history - Amherst finally broke through as sophomore forward Anna MacLean found the back of the net 1:54 into the third extra session. The game, clocking in at 101 minutes, was the longest ever played in the six-year history of the conference championship.
"It's very difficult to describe it," Plumer said. "After you've played five full periods of hockey, there's no tactics, no major adjustments. There's no coaching magic, either. It's not like I just invented plutonium or anything. These guys just refuse to let the other teams score. I'm kind of still numb to the whole thing."
The NESCAC Rookie of the Year, Elek was a proverbial wall in net in her first-ever postseason, stopping a single-game conference tournament record 65 shots during Amherst's victory over Middlebury. Her effort on Sunday also helped her set the mark for most cumulative saves in a NESCAC Tournament at 127.
Elek's rock-solid play has earned her the respect of her entire team.
"She's one of the most competitive kids that I've ever met in my life," Plumer said. "To have a goalie that has that mentality is incredible, and we see it in practice every day. One thing that's really unique is that we have a senior goalie, [Lindsay Grabowski], who essentially has become the backup. Those two pull for each other like nothing I've never seen ... [Grabowski] is Elek's biggest fan."
Sunday's title-clinching victory came just a day after the Jeffs took a semifinal showdown against another conference power, second-seeded Bowdoin, and eight days after they squeaked past Little Three archrival Williams in the opening round, both in come-from-behind, overtime fashion.
By winning the NESCAC Tournament, Amherst ended Middlebury and Bowdoin's joint reign atop the conference, which saw the national powerhouses capture the only five other conference championships ever played. The Jeffs' victory exposed the NESCAC's depth and proved the league runs deeper than its traditional heavyweights.
"The victory for Amherst was huge," Williams coach Shannon Bryant said. "There's more talent throughout this league. Looking across the board, at the schedules and results in the past two years, I think it's a pretty good indication to anyone who's followed the NESCAC that it's tightening up and it's getting competitive. It's anybody's title to win now."
But before anyone can look forward to the intense intra-conference battles of the coming seasons, Amherst and Middlebury's 2007 campaigns live on, as both teams will play in the Div. III NCAA Tournament beginning this weekend. As the conference champion, the Jeffs received an automatic bid to Nationals and a first-round date with the Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday. With just two regular season losses, the Panthers earned an at-large bid and will host Manhattanville Friday night.
While Middlebury will enter NCAAs with the pressure of being a three-time defending national champion, Amherst once again will play the underdog role, a position in which it thrives.
"We're thrilled that we're in a place where this is all gravy," Plumer said. "It's a reward for everything we've done. These guys don't want this season to end. Nothing surprises me with these kids. There's so much heart, there's so much character and there's so much fun that they're having, that I wouldn't be surprised at anything that happens from here on in."
