Box Score AMHERST, MA – In a must-win game, the men's ice hockey team got the job done in emphatic fashion on Friday, Feb. 20. Heading back home looking to snap a 4-game losing streak and earn a NESCAC playoff spot, the Mammoths faced Middlebury in the first game of their season-closing doubleheader. Riding a big night from their special teams and two breakaway goals, Amherst sealed a 3-0 victory.

Tonight, the program celebrated the career of recently retired head coach Jack Arena '83. An Amherst hockey alum who finished as the program's fourth leading scorer, Arena guided the team for 41 seasons, posting 537 wins -- the 12th most in Division III history. He also led the Mammoths to two ECAC championships (1992, 1996), three NESCAC championships (2009, 2012, 2015) and two Division III Frozen Fours (2009, 2015).
 
With the win, the Amherst improves to 11-10-2 (6-10-1 NESCAC) on the year while the Panthers slip to 12-8-3 (8-7-2 NESCAC). The Mammoths are back on the ice tomorrow, Sat. Feb. 21, facing the Ephs in their final game of the 2025-26 regular season. The Amherst-Williams grudge match, which also serves as the team's senior day, is scheduled for 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
 
* The Mammoths opened the game on the front foot, outshooting Middlebury in the period and holding most of the offensive zone time. This paid off just under eleven and a half minutes into the game, as the Mammoths took the 1-0 lead. Vincent Velocci read a pass up to the point perfectly, clipping the puck over the Middlebury defenseman's stick and springing in on goal on a breakaway. He pulled the puck to his backhand, sending the Middlebury goaltender sprawling, and slid a shot home to give his side the advantage.

* That momentum carried over into the second, as the Mammoths doubled their lead 1:58 into the stanza with a shorthanded marker. After an elbowing penalty put their penalty kill on the ice, Amherst's smart defensive play paid off once again. This time, it was Cristobal Tola who picked the Panther defenseman's pocket, splitting the D and scoring on the breakaway once again to make it 2-0.

* Amherst's special teams continued to make plays, as they scored on the power play just two and a half minutes later to put themselves up 3-0. After cycling the puck, Josh Burke took a shot from the point that pinged off the boards just wide of the net and bounced back in front of the net. Oliver Flynn pounced on the rebound, scoring to extend the lead.

* With one period to go and holding a 3-0 lead, the Mammoths kept the pressure on the Panthers at the beginning of the third: Andrew Cardmody could've made it 4-0 with when he corralled a Flynn pass all alone in the high slot with what looked to be a wide open lane to goal, but a diving Middlebury defender blocked his wrister to keep the game within reach.

* However, the Panthers could not get their offense going, with the Mammoths' defense holding steady to win 3-0.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Amherst outshot the Panthers 31-28 in shots on goal in the contest.
 
* Tola's shorthanded goal was the team's third of the year.

* Goaltender Andrew Palena made 28 stops on the night.