Middlebury, Vt. - Junior forward Cheeky Herr (Princeton, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 2-1 win over the Amherst College Lord Jeffs in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Ice Hockey Championship Tournament this afternoon at Middlebury College's Kenyon Arena.  Trinity improves to 17-6-2 with its fifth victory in a row, extending its unbeaten streak to seven games (6-0-1), and will face the host Middlebury Panthers in the NESCAC Finals tomorrow at 2 p.m.  Amherst, ranked No. 8 nationally, drops to 17-5-4.  The title game for Trinity, ranked No. 9 in the nation, is its second overall and its first since 2010 when the Bantams lost to the Lord Jeffs in overtime.  Trinity is now 3-0-1 in its last four games against Amherst and 2-0-1 this season.

The first period action saw each team record eight shots on goal. Amherst's  best scoring opportunity came at 9:30 when Erin Martin put a shot toward net from the left wing that skipped off the top of Trinity goalie Sydney Belinskas' (Port Orange, Fla.) glove and fell harmlessly away. Trinity looked to get on the board at 13:10 when freshman defender Caroline Howell (Lyme, N.H.) collected an errant pass and on a breakaway wristed a shot that was turned away by Yuna Evans' right pad.
 
In the second period, Amherst had a pair of five-on-three chances for 17 seconds early in the period and also for a 1:42 stretch three minutes in but were unable to get on the board. Alex Toupal had a great scoring chance with the extra skater, but her shot from point blank was saved by Belinskas with her facemask. With the Jeffs possessing a 14-9 shot advantage in the period, Lynndy Smith took advantage of a Trinity turnover on its defensive blueline and scored a shorthanded unassisted goal at 15:09, her sixth goal of the season.
 
In the third period, Trinity had a five-on-three advantage for 1:32 a little over two minutes in but managed three shots on goal. At 7:45, Toupal looked to put the Jeffs up by two when she streaked down the left and wristed a shot, but Belinskas snatched the attempt with her glove on the wide side. The Bantams tied the game at 1-1 at the 14:48 mark when sophomore blueliner Jessica Stowell (Hadley, Mass.) laced a shot from the right point that was tipped in by Howell, who was camped out in front of the crease. Both teams had limited scoring opportunities over the final five minutes of regulation and headed to the extra period tied at 1-1.
 
Nearly seven minutes in, Trinity had a trio of scoring opportunities but could not score the game winner. A little more than 90 seconds later, Herr battled for position as she skated to her left and deked Evans, leaving a wide open net for her 17th goal of the season and fourth of the game-winning variety off a pass from felloe junior forward Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.).  For the contest, Amherst held a slight 34-31 advantage in shots as Belinskas tallied 33 saves for the Bantams, while Evans was credited with 29 stops for the Jeffs.