After battling through 65 scoreless minutes on Friday night against Connecticut College, the Hamilton College women's hockey team gained an early lead in the first period and held off the Camels for a 2-1 NESCAC win at Russell Sage Rink on Saturday afternoon.

Hamilton (13-7-4, 9-4-3 NESCAC) recognized its six seniors before the final home game of the regular season: Jade Alvillar '18, Mairead Carey '18, Kylie Davis '18, Stephanie DiPietro '18, Caroline Knop '18 and Sam Walther '18. The class of 2018 helped Hamilton to a program record of 14 wins and the highest NESCAC seed in program history last season.

Conn. College (14-5-5, 9-3-4) outshot Hamilton 14-9 in the first period, 15-7 in the second and 12-6 in the third, but Walther gobbled up 40 saves for Hamilton.

The Camels had a chance to score less than one minute after the opening faceoff. Lily Connolly maneuvered her way through the slot for an open backhander on Walther. Walther denied the attempt as she slid across the crease, leaving the rebound and an open net behind her. Kyla Floresca tried to tap the puck into the net but Walther spun around just in time for the stick save.

Maddie Beitler '21 put Hamilton on the scoreboard 3:37 into the first period. Beitler started the play with her hustle behind the net by winning the puck and passing to Jenna Jewell '19 in the slot for a one-timer on Bailey Mertz (20 saves). Mertz made the stick save and the Camels attempted to toss the puck down the ice but Carey denied the attempt at the blue line and passed to Timary Malley '20 at the right faceoff circle. Malley snapped a shot into Mertz's pads and Jewell tipped the rebound between her legs for Beitler to shove the puck across the goal line.

Walther maintained the Continentals' 1-0 lead through the second stanza by denying 15 shots, including two key stops at 13:48 and 15:51. Erin Dillion won the puck along the boards at the hash marks and skated straight towards the net. Dillion flipped the puck towards the upper-left corner, but Walther reached up for the blocker save and Olivia Hawes '19 cleared the rebound. Two minutes later, Floresca skated along the left side of the ice into the Hamilton zone and sent a centering pass towards the goal. Mairi Anthony was skating full speed towards the far post for a one-timer but Walther again closed the door.

Conn. College's Connolly broke the puck out of the Hamilton zone four minutes into the third period and sped through the neutral zone for a one-on-one with Emily Walther '21. Connolly attempted to deke around Emily Walther, but her stand-up defense swatted the puck off Connolly's stick.

The Camels had another chance to tie the score midway through the third when Kate Kohl ripped a slap shot from the point with 11:07 left, but Carey stepped in front of the puck for one of her eight blocked shots. Samantha Estes one-timed the loose puck through traffic and again Sam Walther came up with the save.

Lauren Helm went to the penalty box at 10:37 to give Hamilton a power-play opportunity, and Andrea Rockey '19 gave the Continentals a 2-0 lead with her eighth goal of the season with 8:42 remaining. Michaela Giuttari '20 skated end-to-end for a shot on Mertz, Missy Segall '21 attacked the rebound and the puck slid across the crease for Rockey to backhand the rubber into the open net.

The third chance was the charm for Connolly as she cut the Camels' deficit in half with 4:13 left in the third. Ashley Carbone dumped the puck into the Hamilton corner where Elena Gualtieri waited for a quick pass to a charging Connolly for a one-timer into the back of the nylon.

In a last-chance effort to tie the score, Conn. College pulled Mertz from the net to gain the extra skater with 3:35 left. The Camels fired nine shots in the final minutes with four of them reaching Sam Walther and one that was blocked by Segall.

The Continentals finished fourth in the NESCAC standings and will host fifth-seeded Bowdoin College at Russell Sage Rink in a NESCAC Championship quaterfinal on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m.