MIDDLETOWN, CT - The 14th-ranked Amherst College men's hockey team won the 2009 Spurrier Tournament with a 6-1 win over the host Wesleyan Cardinals this evening in Middletown, Conn. With the victory, Amherst improves to 3-1-0 (1-1-0 NESCAC) on the year heading into a tough road trip next weekend at Norwich and St. Michael's.

Today's win was the second victory for the Lord Jeffs over their Little Three rival this season, as the teams opened the 2009-10 regular season Nov. 20 with Amherst taking a 6-3 win over Wesleyan at Orr Rink.

This is the sixth year that these four NESCAC colleges, three of them based in Connecticut (Wesleyan, Trinity and Conn. College) along with Amherst, have gathered for a men's ice hockey tournament the weekend following Thanksgiving.  The location rotates among the four schools and goes by a different name depending on the site.  Amherst has now won four of the six tournaments with Conn. College taking the 2008 title, and Trinity owning the 2007 championship.

Amherst got a goal and three assists from senior team captain Keith Nelson (Manalapan, NJ), four assists from junior Joe Brock (Cumming, GA) and two goals and an assist from sophomore Eddie Effinger (Belleville, IL) as this line combined for most of the Lord Jeffs' points on the afternoon.

Leading scorer junior Matt Rhone (Dedham, MA) got things going for the winners, scoring on the power play for his fifth goal of the season.  He received a pass from Nelson in the left circle and sent a low shot between the pads of Cardinal goaltender Matt Hadge at 11:41 of the first period.  Before the dust had settled, Amherst made it 2-0 just 18 seconds later with Effinger getting the last poke at a loose puck for his second goal of the season. The Lord Jeffs took a 3-0 edge into intermission as senior Ted Vickers (Chilliwack, BC) connected for his first goal of the campaign, sending a shot over the right shoulder of Hadge from a sharp angle on the left at 15:38.

The Cardinals got one back at 19:02 of the second period for the only goal of the frame as Wesleyan outshot Amherst, 8-2, during the middle 20 minutes.  On the power play, Wesleyan's Tom Salah lit the lamp with his team-leading third goal of the year, snapping off a wrist shot from above the right circle that beat Amherst goaltender Cole Anderson (Sylvan Lake, Alberta), who ended the game with 18 saves.  

The score remained unchanged until midway through the final stanza as junior Gavin Carson (Montreal, Quebec) mimicked Salah for his first goal of the season, putting home a wrist shot from near the blue line on the right side.  The final two Amherst goals came in the final four minutes off the sticks of Nelson and Effinger.  Hadge finished with 14 saves for Wesleyan , as the shot totals were low at 20-19 in Amherst's favor.