The Hamilton College men’s hockey team scored one goal in each period for a 3-2 NESCAC victory over the Amherst College Mammoths on Friday night at Hamilton’s Russell Sage Rink.
The contest was the first of the 2018-19 season for both teams.
Despite Amherst (0-1, 0-1 NESCAC) having a 40-23 shot advantage, Hamilton’s Anthony Tirabassi ’20 stood strong between the pipes and turned away 38 shots while keeping the guests scoreless until the third period.
Hamilton (1-0, 1-0) jumped out to a one-goal lead 5:17 after the opening faceoff. Blayne Oliver ’20 denied the clear attempt from the Mammoths and sailed the puck back into the offensive zone. Nick Ursitti ’20 worked the puck out of the corner and tapped a pass to Sterling Bray ’20 at the near circle. Bray slipped the puck underneath the stick of a defender to Jordi Jefferson ’22 who surged across the front of the crease and backhanded the puck inside the right pipe for his first collegiate goal.
Rory Gagnon ’19 doubled the Continental lead just 2:13 into the second period when he tipped in a snap shot from Jon Beniers ’21. Gagnon won the faceoff to the left of Amherst’s Giancarlo Ventre (20 saves), dropping the puck back to Beniers who passed across the blue line to Sean Allen ’21. Allen returned the puck back to Beniers for a shot and Gagnon redirected the puck with his stick blade.
The Mammoths finally managed to poke the puck past Tirabassi in the third period during a five-on-three power play opportunity. Tirabassi made three saves within 22 seconds and lost his stick in the process before Phil Johansson connected with a one-timer into the back of the net at 9:10. Nick Bondra and P.J. Conlon picked up the assists.
Hamilton drew up another successful faceoff with exactly five minutes remaining. Once again, Gagnon won the faceoff to the left of the Amherst goalie and Ursitti ripped a shot inside the back post.
Just over a minute later, A.J. Klein gathered the loose puck along the boards and passed across the blue line to Johansson for his second score of the night when his shot snuck through traffic and into the back of the net.
Hamilton hits the road for a non-conference game against SUNY Brockport on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.
