Hartford, Conn. – Senior forward Michael Hawkrigg (Toronto, Ontario) had two goals and two assists to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Amherst College Purple and White in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Ice Hockey Championship Finals this afternoon at Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center.  Trinity, ranked No. 6 in the nation, improves to 21-5-1 with its fifth win in a row and earns a chance to defend its 2015 NCAA Division III Championship title by collecting the league's NCAA automatic.  Amherst, the 2015 NESCAC Champions, closes its year with a 11-12-4 mark.  Trinity will be making its fifth appearance in the NCAA, having won the NESCAC title in 2003 and 2008 and receiving at-large bids in 2005 and last season. 

Trinity dominated the first period, outshooting the Purple and White, 21-3, and taking a 3-0 lead into the first break.  Hawkrigg got things started 7:32 into the game with assists provided by junior forward Sean Orlando (Ivyland, Pa.) and first-year forward Mark Knowlton (Colorado Springs, Colo.).  Bantam rookie defenseman Bryce Eviston (Vancouver, British Columbia) threaded a pass through several Amherst player to senior captain forward Elie Vered (Ottawa, Ontario), and Vered beat Amherst sophomore goalie Connor Girard (Bloomington, Minn.) over his right shoulder to give the home team a 2-0 lead midway through the first period.  Sophomore forward Tyler Whitney (Wakefield, Mass.) completed the scoring with 4:32 left in the opening stanza, converting on a pass from the right side by classmate Anthony Sabitsky (Sicklerville, N.J.).

Amherst held a slight 8-to-7 edge shooting in the scoreless second period, and neary got on the board when junior forward Chris Roll (Fairport, N.Y.) was stopped one-on-one by Trinity sophomore goalie Alex Morin (St. Hubert, Quebec) and the puck was quickly swept away from the crease by a Bantam defender.  The third period featured 33 minutes worth of penalties, including a seven-minute stretch where the Purple and White played one or more skater down, and the Bantams took advantage in the final minute of a five-minute major by Amherst when Sabitsky one-timed in a Hawkrigg pass from straight-on 7:14 into the final frame.  Hawkrigg scored another Trinity power-play goal at the 9:41 mark with a slapshot, and Amherst avoided the shutout with an unassisted tally by freshman Phil Johansson (Sainte-Zotique, Quebec) in the final minute.

Trinity finished with a 40-to-23 shooting edge and a 87-to-51 advantage in its two playoff games this weekend, committed four penalties for eight minutes, and was 3-for-9 on power plays.  Amherst was penalized 10 times for 31 minutes and went scoreless on its four power-play chances.  Girard made 35saves and Morin had 22, while Sabitsky and Whitney recorded a goal and an assist for the Bantams offensively.

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