Women's Hockey Finds Late-Season Momentum

Trinity
The Mammoths hosted the Trinity Bantams at Orr Rink on Feb. 9 for the second half of a double-header, after falling short against them on Feb. 8. Not to be deterred by their loss the day before, the Mammoths took the win during the tightly contested rematch.

In the first of the two contests, the Bantams had come out on top, taking advantage of a power play late in the game to win in a 3-2 thriller.

“The first game against Trinity was not the best for us,” forward Anna Baxter ’25 said. “We didn’t come ready to play in the beginning, so by the time we started playing well at the end, it was too late.”

The Mammoths carried the momentum they gained from their comeback attempt into the second game of the series, which, although very close, ended in a 2-1 victory for the Mammoths.

After going a goal down with only 47 seconds to go in the first period, the Mammoths came out of the locker room with a vengeance, creating many scoring opportunities in the second. During their second period surge, the Mammoths notched 16 shots on goal and three power-play opportunities. However, they were not able to execute on those chances: Trinity goalie Hannah LeClair had another great game between the pipes for the Bantams. The Mammoths had three one-on-one chances during the period – a Rylee Glennon ’24 breakaway, a great show of puck-handling by Baxter, and an Angelina Wiater ’22 surge in on net were all stopped by the Trinity goalkeeper.

Going into the third with the tide of the game on their side, the Mammoths finally took advantage, taking the lead on their final power-play opportunity of the contest. With just over six minutes to go, Glennon passed the puck from the left corner over to Avery Flynn ’23. When Flynn received the puck, she fired a hard shot on net that Wiater redirected into the top corner to tie the game.

The game-winner came only a few minutes later. Sydney Raaths ’25 gained possession of the puck in the right corner. She attempted to pass to another one of her teammates, but a Trinity defender changed the trajectory of the puck, sending it toward Stephanie Nomicos ’22. She skated to the errant puck and took her shot, sneaking it behind Leclair and scoring the game-winning goal for the Mammoths with only three minutes to go. The split series with the Bantams brought Amherst’s conference record up to 7-6-1.

University of New England
On the night of Tuesday, Feb. 15, the Mammoths remained on home ice for an out-of-conference matchup with the University of New England Nor’easters. The first period remained scoreless, despite the fact that the Mammoths outshot UNE 28-5. 19 Amherst’s shots found the target, but all 19 were saved.

The barrage continued in the second period. The breakthrough came just two minutes in. Kelsey Stewart ’25 ripped a shot on net, which Kenzie MacDonald ’22 redirected into the back of the net. Despite 14 more Amherst shots on net, the game score held at 1-0 heading into the final period.

Under the weight of yet another Amherst onslaught in the final 20 minutes, the UNE levee finally broke. The Mammoths turned 21 shots on goal into 4 scores. Ellie DeCarlo ’24 scored six minutes in off an assist from MacDonald. Alyssa Xu ’25 capitalized on an odd-man rush less than 90 seconds later. Almost immediately after play resumed, Wiater tapped in the fourth off a rebound. Half a minute later, MacDonald got her second, scoring off a deflection right outside the crease.

Though the Mammoths put up 15 more shots and enjoyed two power plays across the final period, the score held, bringing the team’s overall record to 11-8-1. It was Amherst’s final non-conference game of the season, at their final contest on home ice.

The Mammoths will look to build a winning streak and show their dominance in their last two NESCAC matchups of the season against No. 8 Colby on Feb. 19 and 20. “I’m really excited to play Colby because they are No. 2 in the conference and highly ranked in the nation,” said Baxter. “I’m excited to see how we match up against them.”