Amherst, Mass. - In a rematch of the 2008 New England Small
College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Ice Hockey
Championship semifinals, the Amherst College Lord Jeffs picked up a
3-0 win over the visiting Trinity College BAntams at Orr Rink this
afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 10 in the nation, drops to
2-1, while the No. 4-ranekd Lord Jeffs improve to 3-0. The
teams will finish the home-and-home, weekend series tomorrow
afternoon at 3 p.m. at Trinity.
Amherst got on the scoreboard less than five minutes into the
opening period when Kate Dennett (Highlands Ranch,
Colo.) intercepted a pass deep in the Trinity zone. The
junior forward turned and headed straight for the net, sneaking a
wrist shot past Bantam goaltender Isabel Iwachiw (New York,
N.Y.). The Jeffs nearly made it a 2-0 game five
minutes later when a redirected shot bounced off one post before an
Amherst player hit the other post on the ensuing rebound. The score
remained 1-0 in favor of the hosts after one full period, with
Amherst holding a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal.
The Bantams opened the second frame with 1:45 remaining on a
power play, and it became a 5-on-3 when the Jeffs were whistled for
a holding penalty after junior goaltender Krystyn Elek
(Summerville, S.C.) kicked the puck wide for the first
save of the period. With 20 seconds remaining on the second power
play, Amherst senior Tarasai Karega (Detroit,
Mich.) found herself on a breakaway but could not pick up
the shorthanded goal. Iwachiw forced Karega to fire a shot off the
post, as the teams returned to 5-on-5 action with the 1-0 score in
tact.
Sophomore Courtney Hanlon (Fullerton, Calif.)
doubled Amherst's lead when she received a drop-back pass from the
right side and fired a one-timer past Iwachiw on the near post to
give the Jeffs a 2-0 lead with 8:30 to play in the second period.
Amherst carried its two-goal lead into the second intermission with
a 19-16 edge in shots. Karega found herself on another
breakaway four minutes into the third period, but she could not put
a solid shot on net with three defenders on her heels, and the
Bantams and Jeffs were each whistled for a penalty on the play.
Just nine seconds into the 4-on-4 session, Hanlon gave Amherst a
3-0 lead when she went top shelf with a wrist shot from point blank
range for her second goal of the game.
Amherst kept the pressure on with a relentless attack, but
Iwachiw continued to make spectacular saves to keep her team within
striking distance. With 9:51 to play in regulation, Trinity was
given another power play opportunity after a holding penalty, but
the Jeffs' defense once again came up with a big stop.
Iwachiw came up with a save on yet another Amherst breakaway when
Harrington took advantage of a Trinity defender's mishandle, but
the senior captain could not give the Jeffs a fourth goal. One
minute later, sophomore Kim Weiss (Potomac, Md.)
had a prime chance to put the Bantams on the board when the puck
bounced out of Elek's glove, but the rebound attempt was denied and
the visitors could not score despite heavy pressure. The
game's final two minutes featured a 5-on-4 advantage for Trinity,
but Elek hung on for the shutout. Iwachiw finished with 30 saves
for the Bantams, while Elek stopped 25 shots.
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