AMHERST, MA - Amherst College junior forward Greg Carr (Hanover, MA) broke a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal just over seven minutes into the second period and reserve goalie Justin Jagher (Framingham, MA) held Connecticut College scoreless over the last 30 minutes as the host Jeffs downed the visiting Camels 7-3 in the championship game of the Ben McCabe Tournament at Orr Rink on Sunday. Wesleyan University and Trinity College also played to a 1-1 overtime tie in the consolation round earlier in the afternoon.
Amherst avenged a season-opening 5-4 loss to Conn. but fell behind early, as the Camels drew first blood 23 seconds into the game on a right-handed wrist shot by senior wing Pete Helfer (Huntington, NY) past sophomore goaltender Jaffrie Perrotti (Winthrop, MA) - making his first start of the season for the Jeffs.
Amherst battled back with three goals over a 10-minute stretch in the first period. Junior Dave Moore (Randolph, MA) knocked in a rebound off a missed shot by sophomore forward Brett Farson (Greenwich, CT) to knot the score at 1-1, followed by a pair of goals from senior Tri-captains Gregg DiNardo (North Reading, MA) and Chris Orszulak (Longmeadow, MA).
Helfer then capped the first period with a top-shelf wrister over Perrotti's outstretched glove-hand, before teammate Mike Hasenauer (Weston, CT) tied the game with a backhanded rebound three minutes into the second stanza.
Jagher came on in relief of Perrotti midway through the second period and stonewalled the Camel attack the rest of the way with 12 saves in his season-debut. Meanwhile, after Carr's game-winner - a power-play beauty off a nifty touch pass from first-year phenom Mike Kreger (Glenview, IL) - the Jeffs added a trio of insurance tallies by Kreger, junior forward Bob Miele (Woburn, MA) and senior Stephen Tornabene (San Mateo, CA) to set the final score at 7-3 and improve to 3-1 on the season.
Amherst junior forward Darren Reaume (West Seneca, NY) earned tournament MVP honors after a one-goal, two-assist performance in the Jeffs first-round win over Trinity College on Saturday and another solid outing against the Camels. Conn. College fell to 2-2 with the loss.
In the consolation-round, Trinity (3-1-1) and Wesleyan (1-3-1) battled it out for 65 minutes but came away with a 1-1 overtime tie. Trinity's Greg O'Leary (Reading, MA) gave the Bantams an early 1-0 lead with a right-handed slapshot 1:19 into the game, before Wesleyan's Brian Maynes (Germantown, MD) connected on a power play goal midway through the second period to knot the score at 1-1.
Wesleyan goaltender Barrett Elmer (Orinda, CA) was stellar between the pipes with a tournament-high 53 saves.
Amherst returns to action this Friday at non-league rival New England College.
