MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Special team units are the hallmark of great teams and special seasons. Friday night at Wesleyan University's Spurrier-Synder Rink, the Amherst College women's hockey team proved that theory true, scoring twice on the penalty kill and twice on the power play en route to a 5-0 victory over their conference rival Cardinals, 6-0. 

The victory was the 14th in a row for Amherst, which improved to 15-1-0 on the season and 8-1 in NESCAC play. The Cardinal dropped to 9-5-1 overall and 3-4-0 in conference play. The two teams meet again Saturday for a 3 p.m. first face-off. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS: 

* The game was scoreless after one period of play, with the Cardinals outshooting the Mammoths, 7-5, although Amherst nearly got on the board late when Jayna Park's shot got through the pads of Cardinal goalie Rei Halloran but did not go all the way over the goal line. 

* Only 4:33 into the second frame, the Mammoths jumped ahead. While on the penalty kill, a strong forecheck caused a turnover in Wesleyan's zone. Alyssa Xu got the puck to Anna Baxter at the right point, then crashed the goal as Baxter fired a shot. The puck found its way into the lower right-hand corner of the Cardinals' goal

* Less than 4 minutes later, again on the penalty, senior Leslie Schwartz collected an errant clear in the neutral zone, just outside of her end, and quickly slide a cross-ice pass to Rylee Glennon as Glennon cruised over the Wesleyan blue line. Glennon bore in on goal, switched to her backhand, and lifted a shot over the outstretched right pad of Halloran for a 2-0 advantage. 

* It was Glennon again with her second goal of the period to make it 3-0 with 6:03 remaining. This time on the power play, Xu slid a pass to Glennon, who skated to the top of the left face-off circle and let loose with a beautiful wrist shot that found the top right-hand corner of the goal. 

* Amherst added three more goals in the final stanza, taking a 4-0 lead 1:30 into the frame while on the power play. Maeve Reynolds won the face-off back to Carley Daly, who slid the puck over to Emily Hohmann on the right point. Hohmann fired a shot that Halloran saved, but Reynolds collected the rebound and fired a shot into the goal. Marie-Eve Marleau and Park would score even-strength goals t close out the scoring. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst finished with a 28-22 advantage in shots.

* First-year goaltender Natalie Stott made 22 saves in recording her 7th shutout of the season. It was her third shutout in the last four games. 

* Amherst won 24 of 44 face-offs in the game. Park won 9 of 13 and Baxter 8 of 12.