Amherst Tops Owls 4-2, Snaps Six-Game Win Streak

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Julian Boisclair (Voorhees, N.J.) extended his point streak to eight straight games, but Westfield State's winning streak would end at six games, falling to Amherst College 4-2 in a non-conference game from Amelia Park Arena in Westfield, Mass. on Tuesday night.

The loss drops the Owls to 11-5 overall while the Mammoths, which were receiving votes in last week's U.S. College Hockey Online top 15 poll for Division III, advance to 8-5-2 on the season.

Westfield picked up two goals at the conclusion of the third period. The first goal came off the stick of Boisclair with Jesper Seeberg (Lake Worth, Fla.) setting up the goal, skating behind the net before centering a pass in front to Boisclair who notched his fifth goal of the year.  

With less than a minute to play in regulation, Liam Krupcyznski (San Marcos, Calif.) got behind the defense and raced towards the puck, switching forehand to backhand and flipping a shot wide of the net. He regained possession and flicked the puck back into traffic, deflecting off the skate of an Amherst defender and into the cage to cut the deficit to two goals, but the Owls ultimately ran out of time to try and mount a further comeback attempt.

Amherst scored twice in the first period, getting on the board at the midway point of the period. Josh Burke kept the puck in the offensive zone, feeding a pass from the blue line into the opposite corner where John Small won a puck battle, then pivoted towards the net where he would rip a high shot from the right face-off dot above the blocker of Russ DeCoste (Enfield, Nova Scotia) and into the net.

Less than two minutes later, the Mammoths doubled their advantage after Jacob Pohl flipped the puck from a tight angle towards the goal mouth which fluttered in the air, bounced off a defender, and found the back of the net with 10:58 remaining in the period.

In the back third of the first period, the Owls were awarded a power play opportunity and nearly converted with Jackson Gruber (Toronto, Ontario) ringing the post on a shot directly off an attacking zone draw. Prior to the Gruber shot, Seeberg skated in towards the cage, wristing a short-angled shot which was corralled by Amherst goaltender Matteo De Luca.

The Owls killed two penalties early in the second period to keep the game a two-goal deficit, but Amherst was able to put the game away after tallying two goals in a 42 second span in the back half of the frame, the first coming on a one-timer from the slot by Caden Olenczak followed by a wrister by Quinton Gove from the blue line.

Amherst held a 40-29 shots edge with DeCoste getting the start and making 24 saves before being relieved for Noah Davis (Calgary, Alberta) who stopped all 12 shots faced in 26 minutes of time in net. De Luca made 27 saves for the Mammoths.

Westfield State (4-1 MASCAC) will enter back into conference play for their next game, facing their first MASCAC opponent since December 6 as the Owls visit Salem State on Saturday for a 7:00 P.M. puck drop. Amherst will return home to face Hamilton College in a NESCAC matchup on Friday at 7:00 P.M.