MALDEN, Mass. -- Five different players scored for the Amherst College men's hockey team Saturday afternoon, but it was not enough as the Mammoths fell to conference rival Tufts, 8-5, on the road at Valley Forum.

The loss dropped Amherst to 9-10-2 overall, 8-7-1 in conference play. Tufts improved to 5-12-2 overall, 5-8-2 in the NESCAC. The Mammoths conclude the 2021-22 conference at home next weekend, beginning with a Friday tussle against Middlebury. Puck drop is 7 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

*  There were four total first-period goals, all coming within the first seven minutes of the game Tufts led 1-0 when, after a face-off victory, the Mammoths tied it up. Senior Pieter von Steinbergs possessed the puck and sent a pass to Connor McGinnis near the blue line who sent a wrist shot towards the net that was tipped in by Sean Wrenn.

* The Jumbos scored twice more in the first and added two additional goals to build a 5-1 lead only 3:04 into the second period. 

* Amherst would retaliate with two unanswered goals of their own, including one by Greg McGunigle just 12 seconds after Tufts' 5th goal of the game. McGunigle fired a shot past Jumbos goalie Josh Sarlo from the blue line after receiving a pass from Evan Lichman. The Mammoths would make the score 5-3 with just under 10 minutes to go in the period when Joey Verkerke collected a pass from Mitchell Shults on the right side of the goal and sent a wrist shot into the back of the net.

* Tufts scored once again before the end of the second stanza to make it 6-3 and then early in the third for a 7-3 advantage before Ryan Tucker and Matt Toporowski scored for Amherst. Tucker's goal with 2:06 remaining in the game made it 7-5. The Mammoths pulled goalie Lesie but could not find the back of the net. Tufts added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left to account for the final score. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* There were 15 penalties in the game, 10 called against Tufts. Amherst finished 2 for 9 on the power play while the Jumbos were 2 for 5. 

* The eight goals allowed by Amherst were the most by a Mammoth team since Jan 5. 2007, when Amherst dropped a 10-2 decision at Babson. 

* Mammoth keepers Dan Dachille (7) and Conor Leslie (10) combined for 17 saves. Tufts' Josh Sarlo finished with 41. 

* Amherst outshot its hosts by a 46-25 margin.