The Amherst women’s ice hockey team added three wins to its record after a trio of non-conference games last week. The purple and white had an exciting 3-2 win in the final minutes of play over Saint Anselm on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The women then traveled to Rye, New York on Saturday to defeat Manhattanville, 9-1, and finished up their non-conference win streak back at home on Tuesday night, when they took care of Salem State 10-0.

The game at Orr Rink last Wednesday was a nail-biter. Senior captain Eileen Harris led the purple and white’s offense with two goals in the second period to contribute to the win, while Sabrina Dobbins ’18 made 35 saves between the pipes.
The first period was scoreless, and Amherst only had four shots on goal in contrast to Saint Anselm’s 12. But the home team came out firing in the second stanza, as Harris put the first goal on the board just 12 seconds into play. The forward took advantage of a rebound in front of the net after shots from Alex Toupal ’18 and Erin Martin ’16.

Three minutes later, Harris found the back of the net again to give Amherst a 2-0 lead. The Hawks managed to bring the game within one, scoring with 4:52 to play in the period. The score was 2-1, Amherst, at the close of the second stanza.
The third period was back and forth until the last four minutes of regulation. Saint Anselm managed to tie the game with 3:31 on the clock. It seemed as though the game would go into overtime until Toupal scored the game-winning goal with 1:22 to play. Amherst won 3-2 and carried the momentum from the victory into its game Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s matchup did not begin as a blowout. The first period was scoreless until the last 14 seconds, when Martin received a pass from Camille Herzog ’17 and put the puck in the back of the net. The forward didn’t let up, and she gave Amherst a two-goal lead two minutes into the second stanza. Lynndy Smith ’17 and Caitlyn Ryan ’17 assisted the goal.
Just 30 seconds later, first-year Jocelyn Hunyadi sent a pass to fellow first-year Katie Savage, which resulted in a third goal for the purple and white. Martin scored goal number four for Amherst, her third of the night, with 9:35 to play in the second period.

Manhattanville managed to get one on the board before the period ended to make the score 4-1, but Amherst restored their four-goal lead with just 16 seconds to play in the second period when Hunyadi netted after receiving a pass from Brenna Sullivan ’18.

The purple and white added four more goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Sarah Wagner ’19, Savage, Harris and Toupal contributed the last four scores against the visitors. Sophomore Bailey Plaman tallied 11 saves in the net during the 9-1 winning effort.

The Amherst women returned to Orr Rink on Tuesday night to face Salem State. After getting off to a gentle start with only one goal in the first quarter, contributed by sophomore forward Brenna Sullivan in the third minute, the purple and white offense picked up, scoring three in the second period and capping off the game with a huge six goals in the third.
Martin impressed again, adding two goals to Amherst’s grand total of ten, with the other seven goals coming from Herzog, Ryan, Emma Griese ’18, Molly Connolly ’17, Harris, Toupal and first-year Jamie McNamara. Bailey Plaman impressed again in goal, tallying 14 saves in Amherst’s shutout of Salem State.

Amherst will take on Hamilton at Orr Rink in two games this weekend. They take on the Continentals at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 and again the following day at 3 p.m.

“Hamilton is having a great season so far, and we’re excited to get back into NESCAC play and have a strong rest of our season,” senior captain Caroline Bomstein said.

Amherst has only five games left in the regular season and the team is keeping in mind that each game counts in the hunt for a NESCAC championship.