AMHERST, Mass. -- In its final act on Orr Rink Saturday, the senior class of the Amherst College women's hockey team showed one last time just how big an impact it has had over the last four years. 

Maeve Reynolds and Marie-Eve Marleau scored goals, Gretchen Dann registered two assists and joined Emily Hohmann, Alejandra Ubarri and Natalie Stott as part of a stalwart defensive effort that stopped the Soaring Eagles for scoring in a game for only the second time this season. 

The result was a 3-0 NCAA Div. III Tournament quarterfinal victory, and a third visit to the NCAA "frozen four" in the last three years for the Mammoths. They will face No. 1 University of Wisconsin-River Falls, who is hosting for the third straight year and defeated Amherst in the national championship game one year ago, in a semifinal Friday at 7 p.m. in the Hunt Arena. 

Amherst improved to 21-2-6 with the victory. River Falls is 28-1-0 and defeated Williams 1-0 in a quarterfinal Saturday.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The first period ended up scoreless but was drama-filled sans goals. Amherst as an early power-play and generated three shots from the extra-woman advantage, but Eagles goaltender Olivia Last was up to the challenge, stopping shots by Ayla Abban, Marleau and Bea Flynn. Amherst would finish the period with a 15-12 edge in shots.

* At the start of the second period, each team made a push to take the lead. Amherst produced six shots in the opening 5:19, three of which were stopped by Last. Elmira then gained some momentum and peppered Stott with six shots. The Mammoths' netminder was up to the task, stopping all six. That surge by the visitors ended as Amherst went on a second power-play. Once again they generated three shots, but only one was on the cage, and Last stopped Marleau's bid. 

* The scoreless deadlock ended with 7:01 left in the second period. An Elmira player intercepted a Amherst pass but the puck drifted off her stick and back into the Mammoths' zone. Dann quickly skated to it, turned and fired a pass to Cara Mancini at center ice. Mancini just as quickly connected with Reynolds as she glided over the Elmira blueline and into a one v. one opportunity with last. Reynolds move to her backhand at the last moment proved decisive and she was able to tuck the puck inside the left post for a 1-0 Amherst lead. 

* Elmira kept up the pressure and finished the middle stanza with a 13-9 edge in shots. But with 53 seconds left in the period, the Eagles were assessed a roughing penalty that would linger into the final 20 minutes.

* That would prove costly to the visitors. Just 41 seconds into the final period, Marleau poked a puck free in the right corner and Abban gained control, wheeling it back to Dann at the left point. Dann slid it over to Reynolds at the right point, but Reynolds has her pass blocked. It came right back to Reynolds, who then banged a pass off the boards which found Flynn at the top of the circle. Flynn skated into the slot and fired a shot past Last into the right side of the goal for a 2-0 lead. 

* The Mammoths were energized and it showed. Just under two minutes later, they would score again to send the home crowd into a frenzy. Reynolds won two key face-offs, the second one at center ice when she won the puck to Mancini, who dumped it in the Elmira zone and ultimately collected it behind the goal, sliding a pass out in front to Reynolds, who got a stick on it. The puck slid over to the left post to Marleau and she quickly buried it for a three-goal lead with 17:21 remaining in the game. 

* From that point on, it was up to Stott and her defense and they delivered as Elmira fired everything it had left in the tank, including pulling Last on two different occasions. Stott made 13 saves from the time of Amherst's third goal to the conclusion of the game. In addition the Mammoths blocked five Elmira shots, two by Dann, one by Carlisle Brush, one by Flynn and one by a collective.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Stott finished with 35 saves in her 12th shutout of the season and 45th of her career, an all-time NCAA Div. III record. It was her 86th win at Amherst, also an all-time Div. III record. 

* Amherst outshot Elmira 39-35. Last made 39 saves for the Soaring Eagles. 

* Elmira was 0-1 on the power-play. Amherst went 1 for 3. 

* Amherst won 38 of 63 face-offs. Annabel Raffin won 12 of 17 and Reynolds took 13 of 22 to lead the Mammoths. 

* The Mammoth seniors finish their careers at Orr Rink with a 50-7-4 mark.