Amherst, Mass. – The No. 3 Trinity College men's ice hockey team fell to No. 12/14 Amherst, 3-2, in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) action on Friday night inside Orr Rink. The loss snaps a 10-game winning streak for the Bantams as they move to 14-2-1 overall and 9-1-1 in league play, while the Lord Jeffs won their third game in a row to improve to 12-3-2 on the year and 8-3-2 in conference tilts. The contest marked the final in the season series between the NESCAC rivals as each team was victorious at home.

Holding a 2-1 edge with under a minute remaining in the second period, Amherst netted stole the momentum away from Trinity and netted the eventual game winner as senior defenseman Aaron Deutsch tipped the puck past Bantams junior netminder Nathaniel Heilbron (West Vancouver, British Columbia).

Trailing by two goals in the final stanza, the Bantams pulled within one as sophomore forward Ethan Holdaway (Glastonbury, Conn.) buried his third goal of the season just over six and a half minutes into the third. Holdaway's marker came four seconds after the Lord Jeffs killed off their third penalty of the night as senior defenseman Greg Rooney (Worcester, Mass.) and senior forward Conor Coveney (Hingham, Mass.) registered the assists.

Down the stretch, Trinity peppered Amherst goaltender Danny Vitale with shots, but the senior stood his ground. With two and a half minutes remaining in the contest, the Bantams were whistled for an interference penalty. After the successful kill, Heilbron headed to the bench in favor of an extra skater. The Bantams had a couple of scoring chances, but were unable to breakthrough as the hosts held on for their third conference win in a row.

Amherst opened the scoring midway through the first period as Jake Turrin potted a marker. Turrin's goal would be the lone tally in the first 20 minutes as Amherst entered the intermission with a one-goal advantage.

Three minutes into the second, the Lord Jeffs stretched their lead to two as senior forward Mike Rowbotham scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Eight minutes after Rowbotham's tally, Later in the period, Trinity got on the board as senior tri-captain Paul Burns (New Hope, Pa.) scored on the man advantage. The goal was his second of the season and the fourth of his career with first-year forwards Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) and Anthony Sabitsky (Sicklerville, N.J.) picking up the assists.

Heilbron turned aside 16 shots in a losing effort for the Bantams to move to 10-2-1 between the pipes. On the opposite end, Vitale made 33 saves to earn the victory. Trinity held a 35-19 advantage in shots and converted on one of their five power-play opportunities. On special teams, the Lord Jeffs failed to convert on any of their three man-up chances.

Trinity concludes a weekend of conference road action tomorrow, Jan. 31, with a tilt versus Hamilton at 3:00 p.m. Earlier this season, the Continentals and Bantams skated to a 1-1 tie in Hartford.

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