MIDDLETOWN, CT. – Lead by an offensive push by a tag team of underclassmen, the Wesleyan men's ice hockey team fell in NESCAC action to Amherst College, 5-1, on Friday night. Parker Sondag '26 led the team with a first period goal and five shots on the Amherst netminder.

From the face-off circle the Cardinals (2-4-0 overall, 2-1-0 NESCAC) won off the draw at a 39-27 differential in part to Jeremy Abraham '24 and DJ Dixon '24 who helped give the Cardinals possession of the puck throughout the game despite being outshot by the Mammoths (3-2-0 overall, 1-1-0 NESCAC) 38-35 overall. Abraham totaled 12 wins while Dixon finished with 10. While close in possession at either end of the ice, the Mammoths net the first goal of the game just a little over five minutes into play. Jacob Pohl snuck the puck in under Erik Voloshin '24 from the right post after catching the puck at the left circle.

Tying the game up at one, Sondag struck for the Cardinals at 12:49. Owen Sweet '25 picked the puck from Ethan Davidson '26 in the neutral zone and brought it deep into the Mammoths end before passing back to Sondag who was directly out in front of Mammoths goaltender Connor Leslie, sending the puck up and over Leslie's shoulder.

The Mammoths stormed back in the second period even with the Cardinals holding the offensive advantage, scoring three goals in nine minutes to take a 4-1 lead. Ryan Corcoran scored the game winner from the crease, stuffing the puck under Voloshin's left pad. Ben Ritter net an unassisted goal, the puck deflecting off the post and into the goal from Ritter's shot from the wall. Josh Burke had goal number four as his puck hit the crossbar and fell behind Voloshin.

Forcing a turnover at center ice in the third period, Amherst's Vincent Velocci gathered the puck on a breakaway but was cut off by Dan Lurie '26 before he was able to get a shot on goal. Lurie led the Cardinals with seven shots on Leslie. Vaclav Hes '24 had a sizeable scoring opportunity from out in front of Leslie at the 15-minute mark, shooting wide but regaining his own rebound for a second shot. The Mammoths finalized the scoring with an empty net goal by Pohl after Jack Boscoe '26 blocked Tyler Bourque from securing his own goal.

The Cardinals' shutdown team killed off three penalties, two in the third period. Mike Fritz '27 followed Lurie and Sondag with four shots against the Mammoths.

In goal for the Cardinals, Voloshin made 33 saves as Leslie finished with 34 for the Mammoths.

The Cardinals return to action on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2, when they host Hamilton College in NESCAC action at Spurrier-Snyder Arena with puck drop at 3 p.m.