Courtesy of Trinity Sports Information

HARTFORD, Conn. – Andrew Kurlandski scored twice, including the game-winner 6:36 into the third period, and David Cunningham made 37 saves in goal to lead the Amherst College Lord Jeffs to a 3-1 victory over the Williams College Ephs in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Ice Hockey Semifinal contest on Trinity College's Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center.  No. 2-seeded Amherst, ranked No. 15 nationally, improves to 16-7-3 and will play in the NESCAC Finals tomorrow at 2 p.m. against the winner of today's Trinity/Bowdoin game.  Williams sees its season likely end with a 15-8-3 mark.

George Hunkele started the scoring 6:43 into the first period with a Williams goal from Nick Anderson and Craig Kitto.  Hunkele used nifty stick work to sneak the puck past Cunningham.  Amherst answered immediately with a tally by Conor Brown from Brian Safstrom 8:11 into the first.  Brown's goal came on a back-handed shot on a rebound.  Amherst put 14 pucks on net in the 20 minutes, but the game remained knotted at 1-1 at the first break.  Cunningham turned away several Williams shots during an Eph power play late in the period, including a point-blank bid by Kitto with 6:30 on the clock.

After a scoreless second period that saw Williams pepper Cunningham with 20 shots on goal to no avail and the Lord Jeffs counter with 13 shots on Eph goalie Sean Dougherty, Kurlandski  broke a 38:25 scoring drought to give Amherst a 2-1 edge.  During a 5x3 opportunity, Kurlandski converted on helpers by Brown and Jake Turrin.  On another Lord Jeff power play, Kurlandski scored an insurance goal on a one-timer from Aaron Deutsch and Michael Cashman with 3:05 remaining.  Williams pulled Dougherty with one minute on the clock, but Cunningham stopped two more in the final 60 seconds.