CLINTON, NY – Junior forward Joel Covelli (Carlisle, ON) scored a hat trick to lead visiting Amherst College past Hamilton College, 4-1, in a New England Small College Athletic Conference men's ice hockey game at Russell Sage Rink on Jan. 15.

Covelli gave Amherst (7-3-2, 5-1-1 NESCAC) a lead that it would never relinquish when he scored off assists from sophomore Andrew Stevenson (Newton, MA) and senior co-captain Rob Stevenson (Newton, MA) at 7:12 of the first period. Covelli scored again at 9:37 off assists from Rob Stevenson and sophomore Keith Nelson (Manalapan, NJ) for the eventual game-winning goal.

Hamilton (1-9-1, 0-6-1 NESCAC) got on the board with a power-play goal later in the period that cut the Lord Jeffs' lead in half. Senior Andrew Decristoforo scored his second goal of the season at 15:38. Sophomore Jerome Wallace and senior Joe Buteau assisted.

Junior defenseman Shane Lennox (North Vancouver, BC) gave Amherst some breathing room with a power-play goal of his own at 11:12 of the second period. Junior Rylan Burns (Jasper, AB) assisted.

The Continentals had chances to get back in the game in the third period, but Amherst first-year goalie Jonathan LaRose (Boyle, AB) made many great saves to stave off the threat. LaRose finished with 24 stops.

Hamilton pulled rookie goalie Scott Hefferman (31 saves) with less than two minutes to go but couldn't get a puck past LaRose. Covelli finished his hat trick into an empty net at 19:30 to ice the game. The goal was unassisted.

Hamilton was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Amherst converted its only opportunity. Hamilton has lost seven straight games, and Amherst won its third in a row.