AMHERST, Mass. -- First-year Natalie Stott made 28 saves -- 14 of which came in the final frenzied period Friday night -- as the #4-ranked Amherst College women's hockey team won a thriller over rival Williams at Orr Rink to claim the 2022-23 Little 3 championship and the NESCAC's top spot for the upcoming conference tournament, 2-0. 

The Mammoths improved to 21-2-0 overall on the season and 13-2-0 in the conference. Williams fell to 10-11-1 overall. The two teams will face each other again tomorrow, this time in Williamstown. The puck drop is 7 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* With 5:25 remaining in the final period, Williams forward Maddie Tix had a breakaway, one-on-Stott, and she made a move to her left and tried to flip a backhand shot into the goal, but Stott got an arm on the puck to make the save. 

* With the Ephs playing a skater up after pulling their goalie, Stott and her defense continued to make play after play, save after save, in the closing 90 seconds. Finally, after a wide shot to the left of the Mammoth goal, senior captain Avery Flynn controlled the loose puck, skated around the net, and fired a pinpoint 175-foot wrist shot that found the empty net on the other end of the ice for the goal that sealed the win with 35.4 seconds left. 

* Amherst took an early lead 4:25 into the contest when Carley Daly pushed a puck to first-year Emily Hohmann at the blue line. Hohmann fired a shot through a crowd for the only goal of 70 shots to beat a goalie as a screened Erin Pye could not find the puck. 



BY THE NUMBERS: 

* Stott made six of her 14 third-period saves in the final 1:57 of the fame. The shutout was her 9th of the season, which tops Div. III. 

* Not only did Stott make 28 saves, but her teammates also came up with nine blocked shots in the win, with Leslie Schwartz and Gretchen Dann blocking three each. 

* Amherst won 25 of the 43 face-offs in the game, with Maeve Reynolds winning 11 of the 17 she drew. 

* Pye made 40 saves for Williams.