Amherst: Welcome to Brown Town, home of the D.J. Hessler, Ryan Molloy and Clem McNally show.
Led by the trio of attackmen, the Jumbos stormed Bello Field on Saturday, romping over the hapless Lord Jeffs 15-6 in the season opener for both NESCAC squads.
Tufts' attack unit was dominant all afternoon, producing 10 goals and nine assists against Amherst senior quad-captain goaltender Matt Pietroforte. The sophomore Hessler posted four goals and dished out six assists, while classmate Molloy did his part, adding four goals and spreading around two assists of his own. Senior tri-captain McNally completed the attack effort with two goals and one assist.
The contest started out a bit slow for the Jumbos as Pietroforte was stingy in the cage early on, making seven tough saves in the first quarter to hold the score close. Amherst junior midfielder J.T. Milone broke the scoreless tie just over five minutes into the game, beating Jumbo senior goaltender Matt Harrigan on an unassisted man-advantage goal. Senior midfielder Chase Bibby tallied the Jumbos' only score of the period with six minutes remaining in the frame, sandwiched between Milone's score and a goal by junior attackman Tom McDonnell that came with only 31 seconds remaining in the period.
But with the score reading 2-1 Amherst, the game's momentum took a drastic shift to start the second period. Led by a 7-for-8 performance in the quarter at the face-off circle by junior midfielder and tri-captain Mike Droesch, the Jumbos posted seven straight goals to secure an 8-2 halftime lead.
"He singlehandedly took control of that game and really did a fantastic job in the face-off circle," Harrigan said. "Against any NESCAC team, it's very hard to post numbers like that, so that just speaks to how well he played out there."
The second-quarter run featured two goals and two assists by Molloy and two goals and one assist by Hessler. Along with the team's face-off splits in the second quarter, the Jumbos also controlled the shot differential, 19-8, and the groundball battle, 18-7. Team members pointed to their ability to consistently control the possession of the ball as an important factor to the team's offensive success.
"Certainly, late in the season winning those [face-offs and groundballs] will be very important in close games," McNally said. "Every groundball is an extra possession for us, and every face-off win for us is another chance for us to extend those long goal streaks. On the other hand, our ability to win face-offs after the other team scores a goal or two is the key in limiting goal streaks on their part as well."
The third frame saw Tufts extend its offensive work, as the Jumbos netted five more goals to push their lead to 13-3. Hessler potted two goals and three assists, while McNally added a goal and an assist in the quarter. Amherst senior quad-captain Tim Thornton tallied the Lord Jeffs' lone goal of the period on a man-advantage opportunity.
"Our transition game was a big part of that [9-0] run," McNally said. "The defensemen were getting loose balls out quickly, and the defensive middies were pushing the balls up the field and making real smart, aggressive feeds to our attackmen, who were making the great shots."
Hessler piled on to his assist total in the final frame, finding Molloy and junior midfielder Jamie Atkins for two more Jumbo goals, while the Lord Jeffs managed three tallies against a Tufts defensive unit comprised mainly of backup players.
Pietroforte, who finished with 13 saves in the losing effort, was lifted at the end of the third quarter in favor of freshman netminder Sam Jakimo. Harrigan put together an excellent opening performance for the Jumbos, matching a career single-game high with 19 saves in the winning effort.
Droesch finished the contest a remarkable 12 for 15 at the face-off circle and was a crucial aspect of the Jumbos' dominating ball possession. The home squad also posted an impressive 45-25 shot differential through the first three quarters, finishing the contest with a 45-30 victory in the ever-important groundball battle.
"Our offense is what sparked everything; they were able to simply dominate all day," Harrigan said. "It was a team effort, and the passing was very efficient. We had had some problems with that in previous scrimmages this year, but our passing today was pretty excellent overall, and that led to success on the offensive end."
With Saturday's season-opening victory now in the books, the Jumbos will now travel to Newton on Tuesday evening to face regional opponent Lasell.
"It's definitely great to get a solid start [with today's win], but it's not something that we can really enjoy at the moment," Droesch said. "We've got another game coming up on Tuesday that we're focused on preparing for."
