Courtesy of Amherst Sports Information
AMHERST, Mass. - The second-seed Amherst men's
ice hockey team used goals from David White,
Andrew Fenwick and Topher
Flanagan to pace the Jeffs to a 3-0 victory over No.
7 Middlebury College in Saturday's NESCAC Quarterfinal contest at
Orr Rink.
With the win, Amherst improves to 19-4-2 on the season and will
host No. 8 Tufts University (9-14-2) which knocked off top-seeded
Trinity in other quarterfinal action. Semifinal action is set for
Saturday, March 7 at Orr Rink with game time yet to be determined.
Middlebury concludes its season 10-12-3 overall.
In the opening period, Middlebury applied early pressure in its
offensive zone as Amherst used six saves from goalie Danny
Vitale to fend off the threat, including three from the
Panthers' Evan Neugold.
The Jeffs responded with sustained pressure of its own in the
middle of the first stanza as co-captain Mike
Rowbotham and Austin Ho each fired a
shot on target. Middlebury goalie Mike Peters was able to turn
aside each shot.
Vitale finished with 11 saves in the opening session to keep the
game deadlocked at 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.
Just 1:18 into the second period, the Purple & White had its
best opportunity at a goal when Flanagan broke free down the right
wing, went in on goal and tried to place a centering pass to White,
but the pass was just off target.
With under 15 minutes to play in the second period, Amherst,
which was out-shot 11-2 in the first 20 minutes, continued to
attack the Middlebury goal as Kevin Ryder fired a
pair of shots from the right point - one of which clanged off the
post, while the other was saved by Peters. Max
Greenwald then had an opportunity for a deep shot for the
Panthers, but his drive was pushed away by Vitale.
At the 15:56 mark, the Purple & White found the back of the
net as White was able to knock the puck into the goal following a
scrum in front of the Middlebury net. Aaron
Deutsch and Flanagan provided the assists on the play
as Amherst secured a 1-0 lead at the second intermission.The goal
was White's team-leading 18th of the season.
Brendan Burke added four shots on goal for
Amherst in the second frame as the Jeffs stormed back to out-shoot
the Panthers, 16-9 in the session. Middlebury held a slim, 20-18
edge in shots after 40 minutes of play.
With just 4:07 gone by in the third period, defenseman
Patrick Mooney found Flanagan in open ice but
Peters was there to stave off his low shot. Just a minute later,
Fenwick notched his sixth goal of the season to give Amherst
a 2-0 advantage. Ho and defenseman Tyler Granara
delivered the assists on the scoring play.
With time winding down in regulation, Middlebury pulled Peters
in favor of an extra skater. The Jeffs took advantage of the empty
net as White controlled the puck in the neutral zone and forwarded
a pass to Flanagan who deposited it into the back of the net for
his eighth of the season to set the final score at 3-0.
Burke led Amherst with four shots on goal while Ryder and Ho
finished with three shots on goal each. Vitale (12-3-2) was stellar
between the pipes making 28 saves en route to the shutout
victory.
Peters made 22 stops in the losing effort for Middlebury, while
Greenwald and Neugold registered five shots on goal each.
