AMHERST, MA - The Amherst men's hockey team surrendered a two-goal advantage heading into the final period and fell to visiting ECAC East foe New England College, 4-3, Friday night at Orr Rink. Sophomore forward Travis Banga (High River, Alberta) tallied the game-winner for the Pilgrims 14:40 into the third period. First-year forward and leading NESCAC scorer Beau Kretzman (Edina, MN) paced the Jeffs with a pair of goals and an assist in defeat. With the loss, Amherst drops to 4-8-5 while New England improves to 8-8-1.

The visitors pierced the scoring column just 12 seconds into the contest when tri-captain Ryan Enrico (Hoboken, NJ) took a centering feed from the corner and chipped the puck over Amherst goaltender Jaffrie Perrotti's (Winthrop, MA) shoulder. Amherst would retaliate with a trio of tallies to take a 3-1 lead heading into the final stanza. Kretzman ripped a wrister from the left circle into the top right corner of the net to knot the score at 1-1 to end the opening stanza. He then tallied his NESCAC leading 19th goal of the season midway through the second period, and assisted moments later on classmate Jonathan Hill's (Averill Park, NY) goal, giving Amherst a two-goal lead heading into the final stanza.

First-year forward Nick Warriner (Blemheim, Ontario) countered with a pair of early third period goals to even the score at 3-3. Banga took a cross-ice feed from the corner and buried a wrister from the slot into the top of the net, giving the visitors the victory.

Amherst returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. against visiting ECAC East foe St. Anselm College.