Hartford, Conn. - Sophomore forward Lucas Michaud (South Portland, Maine) scored the game-winning goal with 3:01 left in the third period to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Amherst College Mammoths in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Quarterfinals this afternoon at Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center.  Trinity, ranked No. 8 in the nation and seeded No. 2 in the NESCAC Tournament, advances to the semifinals next weekend against an opponent to be determined.  No. 7-seeded Amherst ends its season at 9-12-4.  A Williams loss later today against Connecticut College would bring the NESCAC Final Four to Hartford.

The game was tied 2-2 after two periods, but Trinity outscored the Mammoths, 3-1, in the final stanza.  Bantam junior forward Taggart Corriveau (New Britain, Conn.) scored his second goal of the game 11:43 into the final frame, skating across the goal from left to right and beating Amherst senior goalie Giancarlo Ventre (Morrisonville, N.Y,.) with a wrist shot to his glove side to make the score, 3-2.  Amherst answered right off the faceoff with a goal by junior defenseman Pieter von Steinbergs (Minnetonka, Minn.), tying the game at 3-all just nine seconds later.  Michaud netted the game-winner on a short one-timer from senior forward Barclay Gammill (New Canaan, Conn.), and senior forward Jack McCarthy (Wakefield, Mass.) added an empty-netter with 1:04 remaining on the clock.  Trinity junior forward Eric Benshadle (Buffalo, N.Y.) also assisted on the clincher.

Just over 11 minutes into the game, Corriveau had scored his first goal, picking off an attempted clear inside Trinity's attacking zone, making a move around a Mammoth defender, and wristing the puck off the far post and into net.  With less than two minutes remaining in the first stanza and during the game's first four-on-four, the Mammoths tied the score at 1-1. Senior Joey Lupo led an odd-man rush on a Trinity turnover, backhanded a pass over to Noah Gilreath who beat Trinity sophomore netminder Jonah Capriotti (Mount Hope, Ontario) to make at 1-1.  Less than 30 seconds later, the Bantams retook the lead in exciting fashion. Junior Timothy Weinstein (Norwood, Mass.) took a feed from classmate Devin Moore (Danville, N.H.) and blasted a rocket past Ventre from the far faceoff circle to give the Bantams a 2-1 lead into intermission.  

Amherst scored the lone goal of the middle period when junior forward Nick Bondra (Annapolis, Md.) scored on a power play at the 7:15 mark from senior forward Patrick Daly (Hamilton, Mass.) and freshman defenseman Joey Verkerke (Plymouth, Minn.) to knot the game at 2-apiece.  Daly nearly gave Amherst a 3-2 lead less than two minutes into the third period, as his quick wrister from the left wing sailed by Capriotti but caromed off the iron.  Capriotti improved to 8-3 with 19 saves, while Ventre had 40 stops.  Trinity outshot Amherst, 45-22, including a 21-to-6 edge in the first frame and a 16-to-6 advantage in the third.  Moore and Sophomore forward Cole Poliziani (Burlington, Ontario) had two assists apiece, and junior defenseman James Callahan (Gladstone, N.J.) added one helper.