Courtesy Trinity Sports Information

Box Score

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Junior Doug Kisielius (Park Ridge, Ill.) made 30 saves and recorded his second straight shutout to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 3-0 win over the visiting Amherst College Lord Jeffs in the quarterfinal round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Tournament this afternoon at Kingswood-Oxford Rink.

Trinity, seeded No. 2 in the tourney field, advances to the semifinals, which will be played on Sat., Mar. 6 at a site to be determined. No. 6-seeded Hamilton defeated No. 3-seeded Bowdoin, 4-0, in one other quarterfinal game, while top-seeded Middlebury hosts No. 8-seeded Tufts and No. 4-seeded Colby hosts No. 5-seeded Williams in games that will complete later today. The highest remaining seed will host the semifinal and final rounds next weekend. The Bantams improve to 15-8-1 with their seventh straight win and extend their unbeaten streak to nine game, while the Lord Jeffs close the season at 11-11-3. Amherst had beaten Trinity twice during the regular season, both by 2-1 scores.

Trinity scored first midway throught the first period, when sophomore forward Richard Masucci (Winthrop, Mass.) flipped in a rebound off a shot that Amherst freshman goalie Dan Smith (Rochester, Minn.) had saved by classmate Bryan Crabtree (North Andover, Mass.). Masucci had a chance to extend the lead in the final minute of the first frame, but his two shots on a breakaway went to the right of the net and into Smith’s glove.

Trinity junior forward Kevin Hathway (Thomaston, Conn.) gave the Bantams a 2-0 lead halfway through the second period, punching in a loose puck that was hovering in the crease after several players on both squads had swung and missed. The Bantams added an empty netter by sophomore forward Cameron Finch (Acton, Mass.) just nine seconds after the Lord Jeffs chose to pull Smith in the final two minutes.

Smith finished with 33 saves for Amherst, while senior co-captain defenseman Tim Joncas (Branford, Conn.) notched a pair of assists for the Bantams. Kisielius extends his scoreless streak to over 137 minutes.