AMHERST, Mass. -- Three goals in a 2 minute, 20-second span of the third period Saturday broke a scoreless tie and sent the #3-ranked Amherst College women's hockey team into the NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four for the first time since 2010 with a 4-0 shutout of Colby College in an NCAA quarterfinal game played at Orr Rink.

The Mammoths improved to 25-3-0 on the season, setting a new single-season school record for wins in a season. They will face conference rival Hamilton in a national semifinal game Friday, March 17th at 7 p.m. Those two teams matched up in the NESCAC championship game on March 4th, with Amherst winning 5-0. 

Amherst, the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, will host the semifinals and national championship game at Orr Rink. Gustavus Adolphus will face Plattsburgh State in the other semifinal game Friday at 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths came out flying, peppering Colby goaltender Paige Bolyard with 15 shots over the first 20 minutes, but they could not solve the netminder, and the first period ended in a scoreless tie. Natalie Stott made 9 saves of her own in the stanza for Amherst.

* Two second-period penalties gave Colby some great opportunities to take the lead. A shot from close range by Tate Senden glanced off the right post. Moments later Meg Rittenhouse ripped a shot from the right face-off circle that Stott corralled. In the final minutes of the first power-play, Mammoths defenseman Gretchen Dann blocked a shot. On the second power play, McKinley Karpa had a low-angle shot from the right face-off circle she threw into the crease but Stott sticked it aside. Stott then covered up a shot from Bri Michaud-Nolan. Avery Flynn then blocked a shot moments before the penalty expired. 

* Hamilton outshot Amherst 11-5 in the second period. 

* Finally, Amherst broke through with 17:13 left in the final frame. Kate Pohl circled behind the Colby goal to collect a loose puck and managed to slide a pass to Maeve Reynolds in the lower part of the left face-off circle. Reynolds fired a quick shot that beat Bolyard over the right shoulder and into the top right-hand corner of the goal for a 1-0 lead. 

* Only 1:47 later, Reynolds struck again. Avery Flynn and Carley Daly were tangled with a pair of Colby forwards at the Amherst blueline. The puck squirted over the Reynolds, who took off down the ice, skated into the Colby zone, deked her way left past a Colby defender, and cross through the slot, beating Bolyard with a backhand with 15:26 remaining. 

* Just 33 seconds later it was 3-0 and the crowd was in a mood to celebrate. Alyssa Xu picked up a loose puck along the right boards, skated through the face-off circle, and then out toward the mid-slot. Using a perfectly timed screen from Julia Weiss to her advantage, Xu lifted a beautiful backhand shot over Bolyard for the three-goal advantage. 

* It was Daly who wrapped up the scoring with 5:08 to go, stealing a pass from a Colby player and skating in one-on-one with Bolyard, beating her low through the five-hole. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst finished with a 30-28 edge in shots. Stott made 28 saves for her 4th consecutive shutout and her nation-leading 13th shutout of the season, one off the national single-season record. Stott and the Mammoths have not allowed a goal in the postseason through four games, and the first-year netminder extended her scoreless minutes streak to 274 minutes, 32 seconds. 

* The Mammoths won 34 of the 55 face-offs taken. Weiss won 7 of 9 while Jayna Park won 11 of 17 and Reynolds 11 of 18.