HARTFORD, CT – The men's ice hockey team gritted their way to a hard-fought first Amherst win for Head Coach Eddie Effinger '12 on Friday, Nov. 21. In the second game of their early-season road trip against local NESCAC foe Trinity, a sensational performance from both the Amherst defense and netminder Vincent Lamberti sealed the 2-0 victory.

With the win the Mammoths improve to 1-1 on the season while the Bantams fall to 0-3. Amherst has little time to rest and recover before their next game, taking the ice for another NESCAC bout in under 24 hours. They will play the first of their Little Three matchups on Saturday, Nov. 22, taking on Wesleyan to close their road trip. Puck drop in Middletown is set for 3 p.m.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
 
* The game started with the Mammoths on the back foot, being outshot early and relying on their special teams to keep the game even. After a scuffle saw two simultaneous penalties, inducing a 5-minute major for Amherst, the Mammoths fought through a two-minute period of 4-on-4 hockey and three minutes on the penalty kill.
 
* After a faceoff in the Mammoths' offensive zone, the Amherst forecheck did their job, not letting the Bantams escape and shoveling the puck back into the zone. That pressure paid off, with an errant pass from a Trinty player sliding kindly onto the stick of an onrushing Andrew Carmody. The senior rifled a shot on net that was saved, crashed the net to follow his own attempt and send the rebound home to give his team the lead at 1-0.
 
* Standout play from the first-year Lamberti, who made 11 saves in the first period, including three in the last 60 seconds, allowed Amherst to keep that lead heading into the second frame. That pattern continued into the beginning of the second, with the first-year flying around his crease to save puck after puck and maintain the lead.
 
* After a frantic first few minutes, the Mammoths got their skates under them defensively, allowing fewer shots on net testing Bantams goaltender Devon Bobak with more frequency. The highlight of that stretch was dangerous chance on the break: Jacob Pohl hit Zachary Murray on the cross-ice pass, but the senior's shot pinged off the inside of the left post and never crossed the goal line. That meant that neither team was able to hit paydirt, and the Mammoths entered the final period with a slim one-goal lead.

* The first half of the final period played out much like the second: lots of penalties on both sides, passes across the face of goal just too far from outstretched sticks, and both teams having chances to put goals on the board but their efforts pinging off the woodwork.

* In fitting fashion, Lamberti won the game for Amherst down the stretch. The goaltender came up huge in the game's final 2:30, making a kick-save on a breakaway opportunity with 2:10 remining before swallowing up another shot with 1:20 left. With the Trinity net empty, Josh Burke was able to corral the loose puck after a blocked shot, skate down the right side, and slot the puck home to seal a 2-0 win.
 
 
BY THE NUMBERS:
* With the result, Head Coach and former player Eddie Effinger '12 earned the first victory and first shutout of his coaching tenure with the Mammoths.

*The Bantams doubled up the Mammoths in shots, up 81-41 overall, including 28-15 in shots on goal.

* Amherst had an all-time day on special teams, going 7-7 on the penalty kill and surviving 45 seconds of 6-on-5 with the net empty to keep their first shutout of the season.

* Without a doubt the MVP of the night, Lamberti made 28 saves in the first start of his Mammoths career, playing the full 60 minutes in net.