The Amherst men’s ice hockey team hosted NESCAC rivals Trinity and Wesleyan on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28, respectively. Following their 10-goal demolition of Assumption College last week on Jan. 21., the team battled to overtime ties against both of their conference foes this weekend.

In December, the Cardinals blanked Amherst in a 3-0 victory, but the tables were turned on Friday night when the purple and white opened up the scoreboard in the second period with a goal from Austin Ho ’17 assisted by Joey Lupo ’20.

As Amherst continued to pick up momentum, Thomas Lindstrom ’18 put away another goal with help from David White ’18 and Patrick Daly ’20 to put the purple and white up by two.

Before the conclusion of the second period, however, Wesleyan responded with a goal of its own on a power play, which put the Cardinals within one goal heading into the locker room.

Wesleyan came out strong in the third, scoring just 30 seconds into the period. As tensions rose, the match became aggressive on both sides of the ice. The teams traded penalties beginning at the end of the second period. Ultimately both squads registered five penalties each, spending 10 total minutes in their respective penalty boxes.

Despite the pugnacious nature of play, neither team was able to capitalize on power play opportunities for the remainder of game, and the teams would settle on a 2-2 draw after a scoreless overtime period.

The next day, Amherst returned to the ice against No. 14 Trinity, who also registered a win against the purple and white earlier in the season. A pass from Lindstrom would give White the first and only goal of the game for Amherst.

The purple and white held onto the lead until a goal from the Bantams evened up play. Penalties were exchanged as, for the second night in a row, the game got chippy between NESCAC opponents. The purple and white clung to their tie, however, and Conor Girard ’18 anchored the defense with a career high 42 saves.

Amherst will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Bowdoin this Friday, Feb. 3 and Colby the next day. Currently tied for third in the NESCAC standings behind Hamilton and Williams, the purple and white will look to pull away from third-ranked Colby and eighth ranked Bowdoin this weekend.