AMHERST, MA - The Amherst College men's hockey team downed Trinity 6-2 after Connecticut College manhandled Wesleyan University 7-2 in first-round action of the Ben McCabe Tournament at Orr Rink on Saturday. Amherst will host Conn. in the championship game Sunday at 4 p.m. after a 1 p.m. consolation game between Wesleyan and Trinity.

After falling behind 1-0 on a Mathew Greason (Bridgton, ME) breakaway score off an Amherst turnover midway through the first period, the homestanding Jeffs rebounded with six straight goals to improve to 2-1 on the season. Junior forward Darren Reaume (West Seneca, NY) knotted the score three minutes later on an odd-man rush, followed by a power play goal by senior forward Rob Hill (Averil Park, NY), as Amherst took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Jeffs pulled away in the second period on a pair of goals by senior defenseman Darce Swaggert (Wayzatya, MN) and first-year phenom Mike Kreger (Glenview, IL), and iced the victory in the third with two more scores by Kreger and senior defenseman Jim Smith (Rochester, MN).

Trinity's Daniel Gyllstrom (Hudson, MA) connected on a power play score past Amherst goalie Nick Rieser (Northfield, IL) five seconds before the end of regulation, but it was too-little-too-late as the Bantams fell to 3-1 with their first loss of the season.

Rieser had 27 saves for the Jeffs, while Reaume, junior forward Greg Carr (Hanover, MA) and senior Tri-captain Chris Orszulak (Longmeadow, MA) each added a pair of assists.

Meanwhile, Conn. College jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 7-2 win over Wesleyan in the tournament-opener. Senior wing Darrell Cristina (Rock Hill, SC) scored twice in the first period while classmate Pete Helfer (Huntington, NY) added a third goal in the opening frame and assisted on two others, as the Camels improved to 2-1 on the season. Freshman forward Tim Joncas (Branford, CT) scored a goal and assisted on another for the 1-3 Cardinals.

Sunday's championship game between Amherst and Connecticut is a re-match of this year's season-opener, which the Camels took 5-4 on Friday, Nov. 17. Helfer scored three goals for a natural hat-trick and junior defenseman Matt Coleman (Canton, MA) added a short-handed game-winner with 9:50 left in regulation in a game that featured 21 combined penalties.