Hartford, Conn. — The Trinity College women's ice hockey program played one of its best games of the season Friday night, and after seeing two leads during regulation, settled for a well-earned tie with Amherst 2-2. The Bantams were slow through the first period but saw an offensive explosion in the latter half of the game, producing 26 shots in the final 20 minutes of play.

Trinity (5-7-3, 0-6-1 NESCAC) ended its conference drought on Friday, earning its first NESCAC point in the draw. Amherst (6-4-2, 3-3-3) finished the game with 38 shots on net, seeing Trinity netminder Kai-Lily Karpman (Playa del Ray, Calif.) making 36 stops on the evening.

After a scoreless — and rather quick first period — the Bantams were outshot 8-5, with much of the puck control belonging to Amherst. Despite being sluggish out of the gate, it was the home team who got on the board first. Sophomore Angelica Mushenko (East Longmeadow, Mass.) turned over a Mammoth defender in the neutral zone and turned on the jets. She was able to get around the last Amherst defenseman and wrist a beautiful shot over the right shoulder of goaltender Caitlin Walker to take the lead.

Less than five minutes later, Amherst responded. After a shot from first-year Leslie Schwartz hit the post, classmate Carley Daly was there for the rebound; Schwartz's shot had Trinity goaltender Kai-Lily Karpman (Playa del Ray, Calif.) off her line, and Daly corralled it in for the equalizer.

At the 11:57 marker in the second period, Trinity once again regained the lead; this time, with a beautiful set-up. With sophomore Cassidy McNeeley (South Easton, Mass.) leading an odd-man rush, she back-handed a pass to junior Sierra Lee (Ferguson's Cove, Nova Scotia). Lee found sophomore Caelin Flaherty (Upton, Mass.) on the far post, and after her initial shot was saved, was able to stuff home the rebound to take the lead.

With just over two minutes remaining in the period, the visitors were able to level the score. First-year Avery Flynn was able to stretch a pass through the neutral zone to classmate Kate Pohl; Pohl slowed the two-on-one down long enough to get Daly into the mix. Pohl made a move before saucering the puck over to Daly; all alone, Daly made no mistake on her third shot of the night, netting her second goal and making it 2-2 after two periods.

Trinity rattled off 14 shots in the third period, but neither team found the back of the net in regulation. In overtime, Trinity held a 5-2 shot advantage, but Walker made a handful of exquisite saves to force the draw.

The Bantams return to the Koeppel Center Saturday afternoon, hosting Amherst in the series finale. Game time is slated for 4 p.m.