AMHERST, Mass. -- Natalie Stott made 27 saves and three different Mammoths scored Sunday as the #2-ranked Amherst College women's hockey team won a hard-fought 3-1 victory over #4-ranked Middlebury College at Orr Rink.

Amherst stayed unbeaten with the win, moving to 10-0-3 overall and 3-0-3 in NESCAC play. Middlebury suffered its first conference loss and slipped to 9-2-3 overall and 5-1-2 in conference play. The Mammoths are back in action Wednesday when they host Norwich at Orr beginning at 6 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* For the second night in a row, the first period concluded in a scoreless tie. But moments of drama existed as Stott slid quickly to her right to deny Britt Nawrocki's wrister from the slot targeted for the bottom right corner of the goal early on. Middlebury goalie Sophia Will was also up to the moment, stopping a Annabel Raffin shot and then denying Tammy Zhu's rebound attempt. 

* Just 2:34 into the second stanza, Amherst grabbed a 1-0 lead. The play was created by Sami Lester, who won a puck in the bottom left corner in the Middlebury zone, skated back toward the blueline and delivered a nice pass to Malaya Anaba at the left point. Anaba ripped a shot along the ice to the right corner were Will made a pad save. However the rebound bounced right to the stick of Gretchen Dann alone in the slot and Dann rifled a shot into the left side of the goal for the lead. 

* Mid-way through the period the Panthers had a 2-on-1 opportunity but Stott again was at the right place at the right time, sliding to her left to stonewall Trinity Walsh's point-blank attempt to keep the score 1-0. Middlebury's Kate Flynn then had a breakaway chance on Stott with 6:25 remaining in the middle stanza, but again Stott slid to her right to deny the bid. 

* With 14:57 left in the game, the Mammoths made it 2-0. Natalie Fu won the puck behind the Panther goal, skated up the left-side boards and then turned and fired a quick shot into the slot. The puck caromed off a Middlebury defender who was tangled up with Ayla Abban and right to Mammoth Carlisle Brush, unattended in the slot. Brush's quick shot into the right side of the goal gave Amherst some insurance.

* It turned out they would need it as with Will off the ice for an extra skater, Middlebury capitalized with just 1:20 left in the game.  An initial shot from Alyssa Frazier was blocked in front by a Mammoth defender and pushed toward the left post. Caroline Thomas collected possession and flipped it into the left side of the net to make it 2-1.

* Off the ensuing face-off the Panthers dumped the puck into the Mammoths' zone, but Marie-Eve Marleau dug out the puck in the left corner and quickly slid it up the boards to Maeve Reynolds, who burst down the ice, made one evasive move around a defender, and literally skated the puck into the goal for the game-sealing score with 57 seconds remaining. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst outshot the Panthers, 37-28. Sott made 10 saves in the second period and nine more in the third to finish with 27 saves. Will made 34 saves in defeat. 

* Middlebury won 28 of 53 face-offs. Reynolds won 15 of the 24 she took for Amherst. 

* Dann led the scoring with 1 goal and 1 assist.