Ephs fall 6-2 to Amherst in regular season finale
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - The Williams College men’s hockey
suffered a 6-2 loss to archrival Amherst College Saturday
afternoon. The loss ends the Ephs up-and-down regular season with
an overall record of 9-11-4.
Despite the lopsided score, the game was played much closer.
Amherst held a 41-26 shot advantage, getting two goals from Matt
Rhone and both a goal and assist from Kyle Shoppel to spearhead the
attack. Lord Jeff goalkeeper Jonathan Larose made several
sensational saves early en route to a 24 save performance.
Amherst built a two-goal lead in the first period off of goals
from Andrew Stevenson and Joel Covelli, but Williams was not
without it chances. The difference maker early was Larose, who
thwarted several golden opportunities for the Ephs.
The Ephs kept the pressure up in the second period, as they pushed
the puck and controlled possession. The pressure finally got the
Ephs on the board at the 7:19 mark of the second when Owen Holm
converted a Steve Bruch pass. However, the Lord Jeffs refused to
let the Ephs gain momentum, and restored the advantage only 16
seconds later off of Rhone’s first goal.
Amherst would add goals from Ryan Burns, Schoppel, and Rhone in
the first twelve minutes of the third period - putting the game out
of reach. However, the Ephs refused to give up and with less than
five minutes remaing Ryan Young produced a brilliant slap shot goal
to cut the deficit.
However, it was too little too late for the Ehs, and the Lord
Jeffs cruised to a 6-2 victory.
“We definitely wanted to come out and win this one for the
seniors, but Amherst played well and we give them a lot of
credit,” remarked Eph coach Bill Kangas, “Hopefully we
can take this defeat and turn it into motivation for the
postseason.”
Williams, the seventh seed, will be on the road next Saturday in
the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Tournament as they take on second
seeded Middlebury at 4:00 pm.
