Hartford, Conn. - Sophomore forward Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) found the back of the net twice to lead the Trinity College men's hockey team to a 4-0 shutout over New England Small College (NESCAC) opponent Hamilton on Saturday night in front of a packed house at the Koeppel Center. The win pushes the Bantams to 13-3-1 overall and 9-2-0 in conference play while Hamilton drops 11-4-2 on the season and 6-3-2 in the NESCAC.

Trinity senior goalie and assistant captain Nano Heilbron (West Vancouver, B.C.) stopped all 22 Continental shots he saw en route to the All-American's first shutout this season. The Bantams outshot Hamilton 31-22 including a 10-2 advantage in the second period.

In a chippy game, Whitney put the Bantams on the board just over five minutes into the first period as he beat Hamilton goalie Evan Buitenhuis (Burlington, Ontario) for his fourth goal of the season. Hamilton answered with pressure from its forwards, however one of its best scoring chances, a breakaway by senior Scott Vazquez (North Canton, Ohio) was stoned cold by Heilbron to preserve the Trinity lead as the Bantams entered the first intermission holding onto a 1-0 lead.

The second period saw eight combined penalties by both teams but just one score, an even-strength goal by Bantam freshman Ross Mandigo (Stowe, Vt.) via an assist from Whitney. Hamilton was whistled for a five-minute game misconduct at the end of the period that put Trinity a man up. The Bantams were not able to capitalize before the end of the period, however the Continentals still had nearly three minutes to kill to start the third period.

Whitney converted on the power-play as he potted his second goal of the evening 1:33 into the third period, beating Buitenuis off a pass from junior defenseman T.J. Sherman (Chesterfield, Mo.) to give the hosts a commanding 3-0 lead. Hamilton, desperate for a goal, pulled Buitenhuis with 2:01 remaining in the final frame but was unable to get anything past Heilbron. Bantam junior Ryan Cole (Anchorage, Alaska) controlled the puck near center ice and flipped a pass to a streaking Ethan Holdaway (Glastonbury, Conn.) who dumped the puck into the empty net to seal the 4-0 Trinity victory.

The Bantams return to action tomorrow at home against Amherst when they will look to avenge a 4-2 loss to the Purple & White earlier this season in Massachusetts. Game time is set for 4 p.m.