Amherst, Mass. - Sophomore Macauly Bauer (Sheboygan, Wisc.) scored two goals, including the game-winner from senior Payson Sword ((Princeton, N.J.) and first-year Samantha Edelson (Northbrook, Ill.) on a power play with 1:22 left in regulation, as the visiting Trinity College Bantams snapped a 14-game winless streak against the Amherst College Lord Jeffs with a 3-2 road win this evening in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's ice hockey action. Trinity wins for the first time in three games to improve to 12-9 overall and 7-6 in the NESCAC, while Amherst, ranked No. 3 in the nation, falls to 17-4 overall and 11-2 in the league with its first setback in eight games. The teams will complete a two-game set tomorrow at Amherst at 3 p.m.
Hoping to set the tone early, senior tri-captain Lindsey Weiner registered the game's first shot less than three minutes after the opening whistle, finding the right pad of Amherst goalie Kerri Stuart (Tewksbury, Mass.) with a low tracer just inside the left circle. Breaking out of the defensive zone with just over 16 minutes to go in the first, Weiner charged to the front of the Lord Jeff net but was once again denied by Stuart before a Bantam slashing penalty gave the home team the contest's first man-up opportunity.
With time winding down on the power play, Amherst first-year forward Tori Salmon (Batavia, N.Y.) got a stick on a centering pass but deflected the shot just wide left of the Trinity cage, narrowly missing a chance to put the Jeffs ahead. At the tail-end of another Amherst power play, Trinity senior forward Celia Colman-McGaw (Manchester, Conn.) intercepted an errant pass to the point as the teams moved to even strength and went end-to-end befre backhanding a shot inside the right pipe to stake the Bantams to an early 1-0 edge. Drawing a penalty just 27 seconds later, Trinity senior Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) found Bauer in front at the 10:47 mark to suddenly give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.
Looking to keep pace with just over five minutes left in the period, Amherst senior co-captain Stephanie Clegg (Woburn, Mass.) intercepted a pass in the Trinity zone before skating toward the left circle. With Clegg finding space to rip a hard wrister, Bantam sophomore netminder Alexa Pujol (New Canaan, Conn.) made a sprawling glove save to keep the Jeffs off the board.
Trying to breakthrough early in the second, senior Erin Babineau (St. Paul, Minn.) raced into the right side of the Bantam zone before feeding an on-coming Ellen Swiontkowski (Minnetonka, Minn.), but Pujol quickly slid over to cover the far post to keep Amherst scoreless. With a chance to pad the Bantam lead near the eight-minute mark of the second, Trinity junior Hillary McNamara (Milton, Mass.) found herself all alone in front of the Amherst goal, but Stuart made a big stop on the shot from point-blank range to keep the Jeffs within striking distance.
Amherst finally snuck one past Pujol with just 3:53 remaining in the second period when Emily Vitale (Cheshire, Conn.) tracked down a rebound on the left side of the Bantam net. Amherst's Emily Flom (Grosse Point Farms, Mich.) tested Pujol with a shot from the left circle but the sophomore made the stop to preserve the Trinity lead. Lord Jeff junior Megan Doyen (Ortonville, Mich.) and classmate Geneva Lloyd (Calgary, Alberta) were also stymied by Pujol in the third frame, before Amherst drew a penalty in the waning moments that allowed Flom to redirect a shot by Ashley Salerno (Brunswick, Maine) from the point into the net at 2:41 and set up Bauer for her heroics.
Pujol made 26 saves, while Stuart made 21 stops, falling to 8-2-0 on the year. The Bantams held Amherst to just one goal on six power plays, while converting on two of its three opportunities with the man-up advantage.
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