AMHERST, Mass. – Junior winger Connor Guest scored his first collegiate goal with 1:58 remaining in the third period to lift the Amherst College men's ice hockey team to a 4-3 win over rival Williams College in NESCAC action on Friday evening at Orr Rink.

With their third straight win, the Mammoths improved to 5-1-1 overall and remained perfect at 4-0-0 in NESCAC play. Amherst is off to its best start since 2014 and has won its first four NESCAC games for the first time since 2013. The Ephs fell to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in NESCAC play.

The Mammoths are off to a 2-0-0 start in the quest for the Little Three Championship after an overtime win over Wesleyan last weekend. The Mammoths will face Wesleyan again on Jan. 27 and visit Williams on Feb. 17, while the Cardinals and Ephs will square off on Jan. 7 and Feb. 4.

The Mammoths are back in action at Orr Rink tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 10), hosting Middlebury for a NESCAC tilt at 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Ephs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Sophomore center Owen Stadheim fired a shot from the left circle for his first goal of the season at the 6:58 mark. Six minutes later, junior center Jonah Gold scored for the fourth straight game, knocking in a rebound off a shot from first-year Ziv Deener-Chodirker.

* The Mammoths got one back later in the first period when senior captain Joey Verkerke blasted a shot from the point through traffic for his second goal of the season 17:45 into the opening frame.

* Amherst tied the game at 2-2 early in the second period as juniors Quinton Fox and Tyler Bourque used some crisp passing to set up first-year winger Josh Burke for his third goal of the season.

* The Ephs reclaimed the lead in the middle portion of the second period when senior winger Jacob Eckerle redirected a backhand pass from junior captain Henry Muller to give Williams a 3-2 lead.

* Just over four minutes into the third, the Mammoths leveled the score again when sophomore center Matt Toporowski went top-shelf from close range, tying the score at 3-3 with his third goal of the season.

* Guest netted the game-winner with a remarkable individual effort with less than two minutes to play. First-year defenseman Ben Ritter swept his stick while sprawled out on the ice to get Guest the puck in the defensive zone and Guest did the rest himself. Skating the length of the ice, Guest first took a shot from the blue line that went wide. Collecting the puck himself after it bounced off the boards, Guest fired a low-angle shot that was saved by Williams goalie Evan Ruschil. As the puck rolled up the slot on the rebound, Guest skated behind the goal and again picked up the puck, firing a shot from the left circle that found the back of the net.



BY THE NUMBERS:

* Junior goaltender Alex Wisco made 19 saves to earn the win for the Mammoths as Amherst outshot Williams by a 38-22 margin. Ruschil stopped 34 shots for the Ephs.

* The Mammoths held a 39-22 advantage in face-offs with first-year center Zachary Murray going 13-5 and Toporowski posting a 12-4 mark at the dot.

* All the goals were scored at even strength. The Mammoths were 0-for-2 on the power play while the Ephs were 0-for-4, the third straight game in which Amherst was perfect on the penalty kill.

* This is the sixth straight game in which the Mammoths have given up the first goal. Amherst is 4-1-1 in those games.

* Guest's game-winning goal was his first collegiate goal – in ice hockey. The multi-sport student-athlete scored 15 goals in 13 games for Amherst's men's lacrosse team in his debut season last spring.