December 13, 2006

Castleton falls in final game of semester, 7-0 to Amherst

Amherst, MA-The Amherst College women's hockey team snapped their three game losing streak this evening when they topped the visiting Spartans of Castleton State College, 7-0, at Orr Rink.

The Lord Jeffs dominated the first ten minutes of the game, holding the puck in the Castleton zone for a majority of the time, eventually drawing a power-play opportunity. The Amherst group that came on the ice to start the power-play opportunity played very well, creating a number of scoring chances. Just three second after the Spartan skater was let loose from the penalty box, sophomore forward Tarasai Karega (Detroit, MI) slapped home the game's first goal from just outside the crease, with assists going to first years Kate Dennett (Highland Ranch, CO) and Kirsten Dier (Appleton, WI).

Late in the first period, two Amherst players were whistled for penalties, giving the Spartans a 5-on-3 power play. The Amherst trio of Lindsey Harrington (Westford, MA), Meg Dickoff (Minnetonka, MN) and Dier not only held the Spartans without a solid scoring chance, but were able to send Harrington free on a screaming breakaway. Castleton State goaltender Kalla Robb (Manchester, NH) made a beautiful sprawling save with her right leg pad to deny Harrington the second goal of the night.

Just ninety seconds into the second period of action, Amherst caught the Spartans on a line-change, springing and Amherst forward one-on-none with Robb, only to have the goalie close the door on another well set-up Amherst rush. The Lord Jeffs maintained their high-pressure offense but were unable to tack on any insurance goals until the last two minutes of the period, when sophomore Anna MacLean (Edina, MN) banged home a rebound, as Dier and first year Annie Morrow (Buffalo, NY) registered assists.

Heading onto the ice after the second intermission, the Amherst offense had piled up an impressive 31 shots through two periods, but the true story came form the Amherst defense, who allowed only four shots in two periods, and none in the second period. Amherst stretched their lead to three goals just a few minutes into the third period when Morrow poked in her first collegiate goal on assists from Harrington and classmate Alyssa Chwick (Rye Brook, NY).

Amherst scored its fourth goal of the game with 13:47 remaining in the third period with MacLean netting her second goal of the season off another Chwick assist, with senior tri-captain Tes Siarnacki (Gardner, MA) picking up the other assist. Dennett added Amherst's fifth goal with a nice shot to the right upper corner at the 10:51 mark.

Amherst scored back-to-back goals for their sixth and seventh goals within one minute and three seconds of the Dennett tally to pump the lead up to seven goals. Amherst goaltender Krystyn Elek (Summerville, SC) made a spectacular glove save deep in the third period to preserve the shutout when a Spartan forward hit a hard rebound to her left side. [Box Score]

###Spartans###