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AMHERST, Mass. – Castleton trailed just 1-0 midway through the first quarter but No. 6 Amherst showed why they are one of the top teams in the nation, with five quick goals on the way to a 20-4 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday at Pratt Field.
The Spartan defense held tough but the Lord Jeff's outshot the visitors 60-13 and won 19 of 25 faceoffs to take control. Castleton did pick up 24 ground balls as it ends the season with a 13-6 mark. Amherst, meanwhile, improves to 17-2 overall.
Senior Zach Davidson led the offense with two goals and in the process finished his career with an even 400 points. It goes down as the third-highest total in NCAA Division III history and he concluded with 206 career goals and 194 career assists.
For the Lord Jeffs, Quinn Moroney led the offense with ten assists and one goal while Kane Haffey chipped in four goals and one helper and Chris Albanese added a hat trick.
Amherst struck just 1:23 in the contest on a goal by Dylan Park. Castleton held the Lord Jeff scoreless over the next eight minutes and managed a couple shots but couldn't net the equalizer. The Lord Jeffs extended their lead to 2-0 with 5:16 left and then exploded for four more goals before the end of the quarter for a 6-0 lead.
Haffey scored for Amherst at 12:02 but with 10:26 left Taylor Swarter put the Spartans on the board. The junior came from behind the net and backhanded it jut inside the top corner to cut the deficit to 7-1. The Lord Jeffs added two more goals in the final eight minutes for a 9-1 halftime lead.
Davidson provided the first goal of the third on a man-up opportunity at 14:09 but back-to-back goals from Amherst over the next three minutes pushed their lead to 11-2. Nicholas Romeo scored on a rip from up top with 10:23 left off a feed from Frackleton to made it an eight-goal game before the Lord Jeffs added two more by the end of the period.
Amherst scored the first five goals of the quarter before Davidson ended the run. The senior came in from the left side of the net and just went right over the left shoulder of the goalie for the score. The Lord Jeffs added two goals late for the 20-4 final.
Cody Tranbarger earned the win in net as he allowed three goals and made four saves in 52:08. Peter Latulippe played the first half in net and took the loss, making 13 saves while allowing nine goals. Senior Sam Polas made eight saves and gave up 11 goals in the final 30 minutes.
