AMHERST, MA. – The eighth-seeded Wesleyan women's hockey team was downed in the NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinals by #1 seeded Amherst on Saturday afternoon, 2-0. The Cardinals traveled up to Amherst, Massachusetts where they faced the number one team in the conference. The underdog Cardinals battled the entire way, holding the Mammoths without a score through nearly two periods of action. Amherst found one goal late in the second period, and one more in the final two minutes of the game to come away with the 2-0 victory. #8 Wesleyan finishes their season 9-15-1 (3-13 NESCAC), while #1 Amherst (22-3, 13-3 NESCAC) keeps their hopes of a NESCAC Title alive, advancing to the semifinals where they will host #4 Middlebury.

The Cardinals came out with some fight in the first period, ultimately leading to a 0-0 tie through the first period of action. Both goalies played well, with Natalie Stott and Rei Halloran '23 trading saves over the course of the first 20 minutes. Stott finished the first period with eight saves, while Halloran turned away 10. The Mammoths had a power play opportunity midway through the period, but their four shots were turned away by Halloran and the Wesleyan defense to move into the 2^nd period scoreless.

It was more of the same over the first half of the second period, with both goalies able to turn away anything that got through their defense. Both teams had four shots in the period heading into the final six minutes when the Mammoths were able to push through the first goal of the game. Avery Flynn was the goal-scorer for the Mammoths, weaving her way through the Wesleyan defense before beating Halloran with a shot top right-hand corner. Amherst looked for goal number two in the final minutes of second period, reeling off six unanswered shots on goal to end the period but Halloran turned each of them away to hold the deficit to one.

The Cardinals were able to kill off the remaining minute of a penalty to open the 3^rd period. The Mammoths stayed on the attack in the opening minutes, with a handful of shots reaching Halloran, but the senior goalie continued to make key stops. With time not on their side, Wesleyan was forced to pull Halloran in hopes of finding the equalizer in the final two minutes. Amherst was quick to take advantage of this, scoring on an empty netter just 20 seconds later to give them a late 2-0 lead. They would hold on in the final minute and a half and secure the 2-0 NESCAC Semifinals victory.

The Mammoths outshot the Cardinals 33-20. Halloran made 31 saves, her 8^th 30 save performance of the season. The goals for the Mammoths were scored by Flynn and Rylee Glennon, with three different Amherst players earning assists.