Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

Box Score

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Junior Mike McIntosh scored his third goal of the year by poking in a loose puck in the crease at 14:11 of the second period, breaking a scoreless tie and getting the game-winner in a 2-0 victory for Amherst College (14-9-1) over Wesleyan University (11-8-5) in quarterfinal action of the 2007 NESCAC Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

Amherst used a 17-9 edge in shots during the second period to keep pressure on the Cardinals but Wesleyan sophomore goalie Mike Palladino was equal to the task until freshmen Jack Baer and Ted Vickers broke out on a 2-on-1 up the right side. Vickers got off the initial shot in close which Palladino stopped and seemed to control but McIntosh skated in and poked the puck into the net. Palladino argued his case for control of the puck to the officials following the goal but to no avail as the Lord Jeffs took a 1-0 lead.

Wesleyan countered the Amherst effort of the second period with a 14-5 edge in shot during the third but sophomore goalie A.J.  Scola, making just his fourth start of the season, turned aside all 14 tries and 33 for the game in logging his second shutout of the season.

Amherst's leading scorer sophomore Joel Coveli added an empty-net goal with :25 left to secure the win. It upped his season totals to 11-23-34.

Wesleyan senior Will Bennett was denied his 100th career point as he came into the game with a team-high 35 points but closed out his four seasons with 99 points on 45 goals and 54 assists.

Amherst, which has qualified for the NESCAC tournament each of the eight years since the tournament began during the 1999-00 season, won its first tournament game on opposing team ice while improving to 3-7 in tournament play. The Lord Jeffs' previous two wins came during the 2000-01 campaign when they downed Williams, 3-0, in Amherst and Bowdoin, 3-0, in a semi-final at Middlebury. Amherst had gone 0-5 , all on the road, from 2002-2006. Wesleyan is now 0-3 in NESCAC tournament play.

With only four penalties called on players in the contest along with one on the Wesleyan fans for tossing objects onto the ice, the game was marred by 11 penalties, including six misconducts, at the 20:00 mark when an altercation took place after the final buzzer behind the Amherst goal.