AMHERST, Mass. --It's fortuitous that Amherst College first-year netminder Natalie Stott is one of the rare breeds who enjoys facing breakaways, as she stopped not one but two Friday night to help the #3 Mammoths blank #6 Hamilton 2-0 in an NCAA Div. III Tournament semifinal in front of a capacity crowd of 1,080 at Orr Rink.

The Mammoths (26-3-0) will host Gustavus Adolphus (26-3-0) in the national championship game at Orr Rink Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door only, opening one hour before game time at 2 p.m.. Cash sales only, and Amherst students will be admitted free with a student ID.

Friday night's shutout of Hamilton was the Mammoth's fifth consecutive clean sheet and the 14th of the season for Stott which ties an NCAA Div. III single-season all-time record. 

Amherst's last appearance in the Div. III national championship game came in 2010.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Amherst came out flying, creating several scoring opportunities in the first period and outshooting the Continentals 9-2, but could not solve Hamilton goaltender Evie Sheridan. Amherst had two power-play opportunities in the first stanza. 

* However, only nine seconds into the second period, the Mammoths found themselves up 1-0. Maeve Reynolds won the opening face-off at center ice and senior Carley Daly swung around the left wing and picked up the puck, using her speed to drive deep into the Hamilton zone. Daly cut through the bottom of the right face-off circle and firing a quick shot on Sheridan, who made the initial save. However, the rebound squirted out to the left, where Reynolds, who had raced down the ice following the play, one-timed the rebound into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal for the lead. 

* Things became very interesting with 11:03 left in the frame after Hamilton's Abby Kuhns put a shot on goal that was blocked by Amherst's Leslie Schwartz. Hamilton's Abby Smith flicked a backhand off the loose puck that Stott got a piece of but could not control and then a mad scrum in the crease resulted in a 10-minute video review by the officials. Eventually a penalty shot was awarded to the Continentals as a puck was covered in the crease by a non-goalie Mammoth. 

* Hamilton All-American Nancy Loh took the penalty shot for Hamilton, pitting one All-American versus another (Stott.). Loh skated in and deked to her right, trying to beat Stott to her left. But Stott was too quick and shut down the left-hand corner Loh was looking for, making a pad save and sending the Amherst faithful into a frenzy. 

* After the penalty shot, the Continentals did not shy away. In fact, Amherst was assessed three penalties in the final 12:11 of the period but was able to kill off each one. with great work by the defensive pairs of Schwartz and Emily Hohmann, Avery Flynn and Alejandra Ubarri, and Gretchen Dann and Kelsey Stewart. 

* It was still 1-0 entering the third, and Hamilton had an incredible chance to tie the game 1:45 into the period while on the penalty kill. Abby Smith poked the puck out of her own zone and won a race to the loose puck, speeding past a Mammoth and into the Amherst zone one-on-one with Stott. Once again, Stott rose to the occasion as Smith let loose with a low shot ticketed for the right-hand corner of the net. But Stott stuck out her right pad for the save and the rebound shot off harmlessly into the right corner. 

* Hamilton had its final power play with 5:45 remaining. The Continentals got off three decent scoring chances. First Abby Weiss fired a shot from the top of the left circle Stott blocked. Then, from the left-point Sam Quackenbush let loose with a slap shot which was stopped by Stott. the rebound found its way back to Quackenbush, this time about 10 feet closer to the net and with Stott flat on her back. She fired a shot on goal that Stott somehow blocked without really seeing. 

* After a timeout with 2:01 remaining, Hamilton pulled Sheridan off the ice for the extra attacker with 1:40 left. Only 18 seconds later, Schwartz controlled the puck just inside the blueline and threw a pass off the board up to Rylee Glennon along the right boards. Glennon fired a shot from just over the Hamilton blueline for an empty-net score that iced the win and sent Amherst to the national championship. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst finished with a 31-18 shot advantage. Sheridan finished with 29 saves for Hamilton, Stott 18 for the Mammoths. 

* Hamilton was 0 for 5 on the power play. Amherst went 0 for 4.