Contact: Ben Badua
AMHERST, Mass. - First-year Mike Rowbotham (Stittsville, Ontario) netted a pair of goals to lead the Amherst men's hockey team to a 2-1 win over Trinity College at Orr Rink on Sunday afternoon.
The Lord Jeffs, now 5-4-2 against the Bantams over their last 11, improved to 5-1-0 (3-0-0 NESCAC) on the season while Trinity dropped to 2-4-0 (1-3-0 NESCAC).
Looking to take an early advantage, Amherst wasted no time getting on the board, netting the game's first score just 1:05 after the opening faceoff when senior co-captain Eddie Effinger (Belleville, Ill.) slotted a pass from the left circle to Rowbotham in front who beat Trinity netminder Benjamin Coulthard '14 (South Windsor, Conn.) with a quick wrist shot for his first collegiate goal.
Hoping to extend the Amherst lead, sophomore forward Brian Safstrom (Woodinville, Wash.) tracked down a loose puck in front of the net with just over 10 minutes left in the frame, forcing Coulthard to make a sprawling kick-save before Rowbotham ripped a hard shot from the right circle into the goaltender's glove.
Charging forward on a four-on-four situation with under five minutes remaining in the first, Trinity senior Sean McCarthy generated the Bantams first good scoring opportunity, evading a pair of Jeff defensemen before coming in on goal, but the oncoming forward's shot found the pads of Amherst goalie Jonathan La Rose '12 (Boyle, Alberta) to keep the visitors scoreless.
On the power play early in the second, the Lord Jeffs upped their margin, burying their second goal of the afternoon 4:52 into the period. Receiving a pass from the point from first-year Aaron Duetsch (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.), Rowbotham lifted a shot from the right side over Coulthard's shoulder for his second tally of the contest.
Despite getting outshot 12-10 for the remainder of the period, the Lord Jeffs came out strong to start the final frame, with sophomore forward Andrew Kurlandski (Kirkwood, Mo.) testing Coulthard with a one-timer from point-blank range just under the 19-minute mark.
Trying to climb back into the game, Trinity earned a man-up advantage with 15:08 remaining in regulation but the NESCAC's second-ranked penalty-killing unit held steady, not allowing a shot on goal to preserve the Jeffs' 2-0 cushion.
Looking to pad the Amherst lead with 7:49 to go, junior Dylan Trumble (Calgary, Alberta) redirected a Jamie Hawkrigg '13 (Waterdown, Ontartio) pass in front toward the Bantam cage but Coulthard made a nice glove save on the near post to keep Trinity within two.
Needing an extra skater down two late, the Bantams pulled Coulthard, finally breaking through on a Jeffrey Menard (Burlington, Mass.) goal with just 1:06 left but the Jeff defense bore down the rest of the way, protecting the home team's hard-fought 2-1 win.
Amherst, which held a 34-28 shot advantage, went 1-for-2 on the power play while killing all five Trinity man-up situations. La Rose finished with 33 saves, improving to 4-0-0 on the year while Coulthard made 26 stops, falling to 1-2-0.
