Contact: Matthew Hart
AMHERST, Mass. – All three seniors tallied a goal and an assist and a total of eight Lord Jeffs factored into the scoring as the Amherst College women's hockey team held off a furious Hamilton College rally en route to a 6-5 victory Friday night at Orr Rink.
In the season opener for both teams, Amherst jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the third period, but the Continentals responded, scoring three goals in nine minutes to push Amherst to the brink. With Hamilton pulling its goalie and going on power play, goaltender Kerri Stuart '14 made three saves in the dramatic final minute to preserve the lead for Amherst and deliver head coach Jeff Matthews a win in his collegiate debut.
Seniors Megan Doyen, Geneva Lloyd and Kaitlyn McInnis as well as Emily Flom '15 each recorded a goal and an assist for Amherst, while Erin Martin '16 and Courtney Baranek '14 also scored and Eileen Harris '16 passed out a pair of assists.
Stephanie Lang '14 netted a hat trick to lead the Continentals, scoring two of Hamilton's three goals in the third, while Naomi Woolfenden '16 tallied a goal and an assist in her collegiate debut.
It was Martin who got things started for Amherst, beginning her rookie campaign with a bang as she scored unassisted just 1:32 into the first period. Lloyd followed at the 9:12 mark, with Flom and Tori Salmon '15 earning assists to put the hosts up 2-0. Nikki Haskins '14 got Hamilton on the board with a short-handed goal off of an Abby Runyon '13 assist at 11:46, but Baranek responded less than 30 seconds later as the Jeffs closed out a busy opening period up 3-1.
Lang kept up the early fireworks, tallying her first of the night on a power play just seconds into the second period, with Woolfenden and Katie Zimmerman '13 assisting. Things quieted from there, however, as Doyen tallied the only other goal of the frame at the 9:29 mark, putting Amherst up 4-2 with assists going to McInnis and Harris.
The Jeffs would continue to control play, with Lloyd assisting Flom 2:27 into the third, and McInnis following at the 4:08 mark on assists from Doyen and Harris. Leading 6-2, Amherst seemed poised for a comfortable win, but Lang rallied the Continentals, striking at 5:42 and 12:19 to spark the comeback.
Hannah Bartlett '16 and Gigi Fraser '14 assistsed the junior's second tally of the night, while Jill Tokarczyk '14 positioned Lang for the hat trick. With Amherst still caught off guard, Woolfenden brought Hamilton within one at 14:37 off an assist from Hannah Jaiven '14.
Matthews called timeout after the goal and Amherst regrouped on defense to protect its lead, but not without drama. With Barrett McBride '14 called for hooking with under 90 seconds remaining, Hamilton went on the power play, pulling goalie Becca Hazlett '13 moments later in the final push. But Stuart stood tall when it mattered most, saving a trio of attempts by Fraser before Woolfenden's final shot flew wide and Martin won a pair of faceoffs in the closing seconds to seal the win.
Stuart finished with 22 saves, including 11 in the third period, while Hazlett turned away 16 shots for Hamilton. The Continentals owned a 27-22 shot advantage, going 1-for-5 on power plays while Amherst was 0-for-3.
Rest will be in short order as the teams meet again tomorrow in Clinton, N.Y. at 4 p.m.
