HARTFORD, Conn. — Gerard Maretta's (Brick, N.J.) hat trick sends shivers down the backs of the Amherst College Mammoths as the Trinity College men's ice hockey team shutout the New England Small College Athletic Conference rival at home on Saturday, 4-0. Trinity improved to 12-5-1 overall and 9-2-1 in the league, while Amherst fell to 12-4-2 and 10-2-0. The Bantams take the first place spot in the NESCAC with 28.5 points as the Mammoths moved to second with 28 points. Trinity remains at home with a 7:30 p.n. contest against Williams College on February 3.

The teams opened the first period with a 0-0 stalemate with Devon Bobak (Northwood, Ohio) stopping eight pucks for the Navy & Gold and Alex Wisco with six saves. A little under five minutes into the second stanza, Maretta wiped the goose egg off the board for the Bantams with an assist by Kyle Tomaso (Newport, R.I.) as the puck connected with the upper right corner of the net, narrowly missing Wisco's glove. Eight minutes later, Eamon Doheny (Lunenburg, Mass.) recorded an insurance goal off the stick of Richard Boysen (Belle Vernon, Pa.) to put Trinity up, 2-0.

Spencer Korona (Enfield, Conn.) dodged a Mammoth to send the puck across the ice to Tomaso, who quickly fired it to Maretta for the juniors second goal of the night off a powerplay opportunity. Trinity and Amherst had a scuffle at the net, but Maretta managed to net his third goal with help from Tomaso to put the Bantams up 4-0 with a minute left in the period. The Navy & Gold had eight blocked shots, while Amherst only stopped a trio. In the box, Bobak totaled 13 saves to keep the visitors off the board.