Contact: Ben Badua
AMHERST, Mass. - The fourth-ranked Amherst men's hockey team erupted for a season-high eight goals en route to an 8-0 win over Tufts, clinching the top seed in the upcoming NESCAC Championship.
Having won nine of its last 10 games, Amherst (17-3-1/14-1-0 NESCAC) is in the midst of five game win streak having outscored its opponents 25-3 during that span. Unbeaten over its last six entering tonight's contest, Tufts fell to 11-8-2 overall and 8-6-1 against conference opponents. In two games with the Jumbos this season, the Jeffs have held a 15-1 scoring edge.
Hoping to set the tone in the opening period, junior Mike Moher (Toronto, Ontario) raced up the left side into the Tufts zone just under the 17-minute mark before feeding a pass to a charging Eddie Effinger '12 (Belleville, Ill.), but senior goalie Scott Barchard quickly slid to cover the far post, denying Amherst an early go-ahead goal.
Less than five minutes later, sophomore forward Erik Hansen (Deephaven, Minn.) slotted a pass in front to classmate Brian Safstrom '14 (Woodinville, Wash.), but Barchard was again there to deny the try from point-blank range to keep the Jumbos level.
Earning the game's first power play with 1:58 to go in the first, Amherst looked to jump out to an early edge. Unable to get anything going during the first half of the man-up advantage, the Jeffs finally got on the board with just 11.7 seconds remaining when Safstrom received a feed on the near post before firing a shot that trickled over the goal line to make it 1-0.
On a 5-on-3 with under 15 to go in the middle frame, Amherst added to its lead when Effinger redirected a Jamie Hawkrigg '13 (Waterdown, Ontario) shot from the point into the Tufts goal at 6:16. Just 49 seconds later, the Jeffs added another power play tally as Hawkrigg ripped a hard rising slap shot from the left side, just inside the blue line, for his fifth goal of the season.
Looking to pad the Amherst lead while on another man-up situation with under 10 to play in the second, first-year Aaron Deutsch (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) found open space between the circles, but rattled a shot off the right pipe, narrowly missing a chance to notch the home team's third power play goal of the frame.
Continuing to go on the offensive, Amherst extended the margin to four with 6:07 left in the period when Mark Colp '12 (Wareham, Mass.) received a feed from the right corner on the far post before slotting home his eighth score of the year.
Wanting to carry their momentum into the final frame, Amherst wasted no time adding to its tally, making it 5-0 just 30 seconds into the third as senior Mike Baran's (Duxbury, Mass.) low slap shot from the point found its way through the legs of back-up goalie Brian Phillips '14, who replaced Barchard after Colp's goal at 13:53 of the second.
With under 14 minutes to go in regulation, Moher spun and ripped another shot into the Tufts net before Hansen tapped home a nice cross-ice pass to the near post to extend the lead to 7-0. Deutsch capped off the scoring with his third goal of 2011-12 at 11:53.
Amherst senior goaltender Jonathan La Rose (Boyle, Alberta) made 17 saves to en route to his fourth shutout, improving to 13-1-1 on the year. The Jeffs finished with a decisive 44-17 shot advantage, going 3-for-7 on the power play.
The Lord Jeffs return to action on Sunday, Feb. 12 against Connecticut College. Prior to the start of tomorrow's game, Amherst will honor the Class of 2012 as part of the program's Senior Day festivities. With an overall record of 67-22-10 (50-13-8 NESCAC), this year's seniors became the team's winningest class of all time, surpassing the Class of 2010 that finished 66-28-9.
