AMHERST, Mass. – The Mammoths jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and four different players found the back of net as the No. 10 Amherst College women's ice hockey team defeated Colby, 4-2 Saturday afternoon at the sixth annual Pink in the Rink game.

With the win, Amherst improves to 9-5-2 on the season and to 5-3-2 in conference play, while Colby falls to 4-7-4 overall (1-5-4 NESCAC). Amherst returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 24 when they host Plattsburgh State in a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.

Jamie McNamara '19 kicked off a three-goal first period by the Mammoths 1:26 into the contest to give Amherst a quick 1-0 lead. Forcing a turnover in the corner and skating behind the net Kaitlin Hoang '21 dished a pass to McNamara in the low slot for a one-touch score.

Doubling the home teams' advantage less than a minute later, Katie Savage '19 tallied her third score of the season at the 2:20 mark. Capitalizing on a great pass by Ava Simoncelli '20 to Alex Toupal '18 down low, Savage deflected Toupal's shot over the goal line.

The Mules responded to the early onslaught with 13:47 remaining in the stanza, as Cassidy Holzer corralled Jenna Greenbaum's breakout pass in the neural zone, skated down the right boards and snuck a wrist shot just inside the near post to bring Colby within one.

Jocelyn Hunyadi '19 restored the Mammoths two-goal cushion with 7:19 on the clock to set the score at 3-1 heading into intermission. Intercepting a clearing attempt on the right boards, Hunyadi curled around the top of the zone before sending a wrist shot through traffic and into the top right corner of the net.

Mikayla McLaughlin notched her second goal of the winter for Colby 8:31 into the second stanza, as her bouncing shot through a scrum in front of the net found its way past the Amherst netminder, five-hole.

Converting on a breakaway opportunity, Brenna Sullivan '18 gave Amherst a 4-2 lead with 3:28 to play in the second period. Logging her second assist of the day on another impressive pass, Hoang connected with Sullivan at the offensive blueline before the forward roofed a wrist shot over the glove of the Colby keeper. 

Colby best chance to bring them within one score of the Mammoths came with 11:20 remaining in regulation. Earning a breakaway, Moira Mullaney raced towards net down the right boards and powered a wrist shot on target, however Sabrina Dobbins '18 stood strong and got her shoulder on the attempt to solidify the 4-2 victory. 

GAME NOTES

• In between the pipes, Dobbins (3-1-0) recorded 26 saves in the winning effort for Amherst, while Cierra San Roman '18 (2-6-4) made 19 stops for the Mules.
• Colby owned a 28-23 edge in shot differential.
• Neither team converted on the power play, with the Mammoths finishing 0-for-3 and Colby going 0-for-1.