Katie Zimmerman '13 scored two goals, including the game-winner in the sudden-victory overtime period, and Hamilton College upset nationally ranked No. 6 Amherst College 4-3 in a NESCAC game at Hamilton’s Russell Sage Rink on Nov. 17.
The Continentals (1-1-0 overall, 1-1 NESCAC) snapped a 16-game winless streak against Amherst. Hamilton last defeated the Jeffs in the first round of the 2005 NESCAC Championship. Amherst edged the Continentals 6-5 in the 2012-13 opener at Amherst on Friday night.
Gigi Fraser '14 and Megan Fitzgerald '16 tallied one goal and one assist apiece for the Continentals. Naomi Woolfenden '16 and Julia Beaty '13 were each credited with one assist. Becca Hazlett '13 stopped 25 shots in the win.
Hayley Opperman '14 scored two goals for the Jeffs. Ashley Salerno '14 added Amherst’s other goal, all of which were scored in the second period. Tori Salmon '15 passed out two assists and Kasia Henley '16 turned away 27 shots.
Zimmerman scored the game-winner with 1:07 remaining in overtime when she took a pass from Fraser on the left side of the ice and snuck a shot by Henley into the upper right corner.
Amherst (1-1-0, 1-1) nearly took a 1-0 lead at 14:16 of the first period when Courntey Baranek '14 scored on the Jeffs' third attempt from just outside the crease, but the goal was waived off due to a goalkeeper interference penalty. Hamilton scored the first period’s only goal with 2:24 left when Fitzgerald took a loose puck and scored her first collegiate goal.
The Lord Jeffs struck first in a busy second period. Salerno tied the score on a power-play goal at 6:09 on a blast from just inside the blue line. Salmon and Kaitlyn McInnis '13 had the assists.
The Continentals answered 1:28 later. Woolfenden's shot from the point was blocked and the puck squirted over to Fitzgerald, who got off a shot that was stopped by Henley. The rebound came out to Zimmerman and she gave Hamilton a 2-1 lead.
Opperman knotted the score at 2-2 with 7:48 left in the second after she took a drop pass from Barrett McBride '14 and found the back of the next. Opperman’s second goal with 2:12 remaining gave Amherst its first and only lead of the day. Salmon picked up her second assist and Geneva Lloyd '13 was credited with the other. The Jeffs led 3-2 after two periods.
Fraser scored the equalizer at 10:27 of the third. Beaty carried the puck down the left side and found Fraser open on the right side of the crease for the score.
Hamilton held a 31-28 shot advantage. Amherst converted 1 of 2 power-play opportunities while the Continentals were 0-for-1.
The Continentals return to the ice on Tuesday, Nov. 20, for a non-conference game at home against SUNY Cortland. Amherst heads to Middlebury, Vt., For the Panther/Cardinal Classic where they will take on SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday, Nov. 24.
