AMHERST, MA. – Cleaning up their first victory of the season, the Wesleyan men's ice hockey team put away a 3-1 defeat of Amherst College on Sunday afternoon as they were led on the scoresheet by Ethan Davidson '26 for the second game in a row from Amherst's Orr Rink.

Downing the Mammoths (0-2-1 overall, 0-2-1 NESCAC) for the first time since 2022 while being outshot 45-29 overall, the Cardinals (1-3-0 overall, 1-3-0 NESCAC) managed to jump the attack early in the first period but were still outshot as they were forced to defend with two Mammoth's power plays. The Cardinals penalty kill unit was able to shut down the Mammoths offense, but four minutes later the Mammoths would strike first, Quinton Gove cutting across in front of Patrick McDevitt '28 for Matt Toporowski from the left side.

The Cardinals finally caught a break with their own power play, the Mammoths called for boarding, and it was Davidson at 10:56 with his second goal in two games that tied the game up at one. From the top of the unit, Patrick Morrissey '25 and Troy Maldonado '28 sent the puck around the back of the net where Davidson was able to settle it in the left circle and snap it behind Connor Leslie. Davidson's goal extends his point streak to four games.

Jack Kane '25 nearly gave the Cardinals a first period lead with four minutes remaining, but the dumped puck was called off by the officials. McDevitt ended the first period with 19 saves.

While no goals were scored in the second period, the Cardinals regrouped after a few close calls in the first five minutes and played the most cohesive period of the season. With 12 minutes on the clock the Cardinals' starting lineup closed in on Leslie making several attempts to shove the puck over the goal line. The Mammoths had their own goal called off, earning the call for charging in front of McDevitt

Andrew Haxton '28 tried to give the Cardinals a lead again on a breakaway attempt with less than two minutes in the period but was denied by Leslie. The Cardinals outshot the Mammoths 18-9, winning 11 faceoffs.

Despite many of the Cardinals' scoring opportunities coming from the starting lineup, the first lead of the game for the Cardinals came off the stick of Danny Judge '26 at 8:33 of the third period. The game-winning goal was set by Markham at the boards, centering the pass to Judge up the middle before the junior made the right-handed shot from out center. The final goal of the game was scored on the empty net by Tanner Kontir '27 with 24 seconds in regulation, his first goal as a Cardinal.

 Kontir led all Cardinals from the faceoff with 10 wins off the draw. The Cardinals edged the Mammoths from the circle with a 32-29 differential.

The Cardinals killed four penalties through 60 minutes, McDevitt making 13 saves through 10 penalty minutes. McDevitt earns his first win as a Cardinal making 44 saves in net.

The Cardinals return to action on Saturday, Nov. 30, when they head to Albertus Magnus for a non-conference puck drop at 4 p.m.