The Amherst women’s ice hockey team had two tough matchups this week, playing twice against NECAC rival Williams. After seeing their five-game win streak broken last Tuesday, the purple and white found themselves with two overtime draws against Williams, 1-1 and 4-4.

Amherst came out ready to face archrival Williams on Friday. Midway through the first period, Williams put the first goal on the board when Sara Lehman tipped in Emily Eide’s wrist shot.

Purple and white goalie Sabrina Dobbins ’18 did not let the goal faze her, holding strong and making 27 stops to hold Williams to one goal. Amherst’s Alex Toupal ’18 struck back off of a pass from Smith with just four minutes left in regulation time, capitalizing on a power play.

In overtime, Amherst outshot the Ephs 7-0, but were unable to find the back of the net, leading to a 1-1 draw.

On Saturday, the purple and white successfully took advantage of their power play opportunities, going two for three.
The entirety of the first period and the beginning of the second were scoreless before first-year Eliza Laycock tallied her first collegiate goal and gave Amherst a 1-0 lead. Taking advantage of both a five-on-three as well as a five-on-four power play, Toupal widened the purple and white’s lead to 3-0 with two goals in 35 seconds.

The Ephs began to find their own offensive success, scoring with four minutes left in the second period and bringing the score to 3-1. Early in the third, Williams found themselves up a skater and capitalized on the advantage, cutting the deficit to one. With 9:16 left in regulation, Williams tied the game 3-3.

Amherst goalie Bailey Plaman ’18 made two great saves around the eight-minute mark, keeping the game knotted at three until Caitlyn Ryan ’17 broke the deadlock and put Amherst back on top with five minutes to play. However, Williams responded three minutes later, tying the game with a tally off a successful face off in their offensive end.

Neither team managed to score in the overtime period, leaving the result a hard-fought 4-4 tie.

This week, the purple and white will travel to take on Salem State on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. The team will then face Trinity in another away matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 7.