Amherst surrendered a two-goal advantage heading into the final period and fell to visiting ECAC East foe New England College, 4-3, Friday night at Orr Rink.
Sophomore forward Travis Banga tallied the game-winner for the Pilgrims 14:40 into the third period. First-year forward and leading NESCAC scorer Beau Kretzman paced the Jeffs with a pair of goals and an assist in defeat.
With the loss, Amherst drops to 4-8-5 while New England improves to 8-8-1.
The visitors pierced the scoring column just 12 seconds into the contest when tri-captain Ryan Enrico took a centering feed from the corner and chipped the puck over Amherst goaltender Jaffrie Perrotti’s shoulder.
Amherst would retaliate with a trio of tallies to take a 3-1 lead heading into the final stanza. Kretzman ripped a wrister from the left circle into the top right corner of the net to knot the score at 1-1 to end the opening stanza.
Kretzman then tallied his NESCAC-leading 19th goal of the season midway through the second period, and assisted moments later on classmate Jonathan Hill’s goal, giving Amherst a two-goal lead heading into the final stanza.
First-year forward Nick Warriner countered with a pair of early third-period goals to even the score at 3-3. Banga took a cross-ice feed from the corner and buried a wrister from the slot into the top of the net, giving the visitors the victory.
