Contact: Ben Badua
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Despite senior Johnny Van Siclen's game-tying power play goal, the Amherst men's hockey team fell to 4-3-1 (3-2-0 NESCAC) on the season following a 2-1 loss to Williams (5-2-0, 4-1-0 NESCAC).
Having won seven-straight meetings with the Ephs entering tonight's contest, the Jeffs dropped just their first match-up to their archrivals since the 2006-07 season.
On the power play early in the first period, Williams carried the puck into Amherst zone, before playing a centering pass to the front of the net. Trickling out to David Jarrett '15 at the point, the defender slid the puck to Peter Mistretta '15 inside the right circle. One-timing a hard shot over the glove of senior goaltender Nathan Corey, Mistretta notched his fifth tally of the year just six minutes in to give the home team a 1-0 edge.
Unable to get a shot off during its first man-up advantage, Amherst looked to generate a scoring opportunity of its own after drawing its second power play of the night minutes later. Passing the puck around the point, the Jeffs dumped it into the right corner. Digging it out, Conor Brown '16 then got it to the front of the net, finding the stick of Johnny Van Siclen '13, who beat Sean Dougherty '15 five-hole at 10:17 to pull the visitors even.
Still knotted at 1-1 early in the second period, Williams caused a turnover near the Amherst blue line. Quickly breaking up ice, Alex DeBaere '15 skated between the circles before feeding a pass back to a charging Mistretta at the right post, who tapped home his second of the evening to put the Ephs back on top.
Outshooting Williams 16-13 over the first two periods, Amherst continued to stay aggressive in the third, holding a decisive 17-5 edge in shots. Still looking for the equalizer in the waning moments of regulation, the Jeffs pulled Corey for an extra skater with 1:05 left on the clock, but the Eph defense held steady, preserving the lead en route to a hard-fought 2-1 win.
Falling to 3-3-0 on the season, Corey finished with 16 saves, while Dougherty made 32 stops to improve to 4-2-0.
Amherst will look to break back into the win column at Middlebury on Saturday, Dec. 8.
