Box Score

AMHERST, Mass.-  Senior Francesca Palazzo (Bernardston, Mass.) picked up 29 saves as the Nichols College women's ice hockey team was defeated by No. 9 Amherst 4-0 Wednesday night at Orr Rink.

Junior Tori Salmon (Batavia, N.Y.) scored two goals to move the nationally-ranked Jeffs to (9-3-3) on the season. Sophomore Eileen Harris (Winnetka, Ill.) and senior Barrett McBride (Glenview, Ill.) also tallied goals for Amherst. 

It didn't take long for Amherst to get on the board. Following a faceoff, sophomore Erin Martin (Canton, Mass.) found her favorite target, Salmon, as the junior forward scored off a one-timer for her team-high 11th goal of the season. Martin's assist also marked a team-high with her 10th of the year as the Jeffs took an early 1-0 advantage in just two minutes and two seconds into the contest.

The second period was all Amherst as McBride notched the Jeffs second goal of the game 55 seconds in. Eight minutes later, Salmon added her second goal of the evening and 12th of the year when she received a pass from junior Anne Gillard (Calgary, Alberta). Freshman defender Camille Herzog (Eau Claire, Wis.) also earned an assist. Amherst scored another goal in the waning minutes of the second frame on a redirected shot by Harris to give the Jeffs a 4-0 lead heading into the third period.

Early in the final frame, Nichols senior captain Megan Gerein (Dubuque, Iowa) narrowly missed an opportunity to give Nichols its first score of the game. With a loose puck in front of the net, Gerein attempted to punch it in but freshman goalie Yuna Evans (East Haven, Conn.) made the stop to protect the shutout. 

Amherst outshot the Bisons 33-to-17 while Nichols was led in shots by junior Grace Murphy (Monclair, Va.) with seven. Evans recorded her third shutout in as many starts with 17 saves. Neither team was able to capitalize on power-plays as Amherst went 0-for-2 and the Bison finished 0-for-4
 
Nichols falls to 3-13-1 on the season and returns to action Friday for a conference match with New England College at 4:00 p.m. Amherst returns to the rink on Tuesday to host Norwich at 7:00 p.m.

Courtesy of Amherst Sports Information