AMHERST, Mass. – Hamilton College's Sami Quackenbush '24 scored a goal and assisted on another and Mac Donovan '26 made a career-high 34 saves in the Continentals' 2-1 win against the Amherst College Mammoths in a 2024 NESCAC Women's Hockey Championship semifinal inside Amherst's Orr Rink on Friday, March 1.
 

Season Update

• Nationally ranked No. 8 Hamilton (15-5-6 overall), which is the No. 4 seed for the championship, advanced to the conference final for the second year in a row. The Continentals will play No. 2 seed Middlebury College -- 3-0 winners over Colby College in the second semifinal -- for the NESCAC title at Amherst on Saturday, March 2 at 4 p.m.
• The third-ranked Mammoths (21-3-2) are the No. 1 seed for the championship. They will await Sunday night's NCAA Division III championship selection show for a possible at-large bid.

 

How It Happened

• Hamilton scored both its goals in a span of 1 minute, 58 seconds in the first period.
• Quackenbush lit the lamp 4:21 into the period on a wrist shot through traffic from the blue line above the left faceoff circle.
• Lilly Truchon '26 made it 2-0 at 6:19 of the first. Quackenbush took another wrist shot from a few feet above the left faceoff circle and Truchon tipped it past the goaltender from the low slot.
• Amherst hit the outside of the right post with a shot a little more than three minutes into the second period.
• The Mammoths put two shots on goal during a power play that started with 5:29 left in the period, and took four more on another power-play chance that bridged the end of the second and the start of the third.
• Amherst threw everything at Donovan and the Continentals in the third period as the Mammoths posted a 17-4 shot advantage.
• Rylee Glennon scored with 2:27 remaining during a pileup just outside the crease and pulled Amherst within one.
• The Mammoths pulled their goaltender for a sixth skater with about two minutes to go. Amherst racked up 11 shot attempts, including seven on goal, during those final two minutes.
• On a faceoff in the Mammoths' attacking zone with 1.1 seconds left, the puck was sent harmlessly to the right corner, touching off a wild celebration in front of Donovan's net.

 

Notes

• Quackenbush is tied for third in the NESCAC with 13 assists and tied for 12^th with 16 points. It was the fourth multi-point game this season for the defender. She was an all-NESCAC first team selection earlier this week.
• Donovan turned away 16 shots in the third period and has allowed just one goal in their first two postseason starts. The reigning NESCAC Player of the Week owns a 1.34 goals against average and .943 save percentage with a 5-1-2 record in eight starts this season.
• Truchon scored her second goal and her first since Jan. 23.
• Claire McGennis '24 registered her third assists and is tied with Quackenbush with 16 points.
• Abby Smith '24 picked up her ninth assist and is tied for seventh in the conference with 18 points. Smith, who has at least one point in six of the last seven games, joined Quackenbush on the all-NESCAC first team.
• Grace Long '27 – playing in her 14^th game – recorded her first collegiate point with a primary assist on the first goal.
• Cuora Sullivan '26 had four of Hamilton's 14 blocked shots.
• Natalie Stott stopped 14 shots in the Amherst net.
• The Continentals avenged losses to the Mammoths in the 2023 NESCAC championship final and NCAA championship semifinal. Amherst also opened this season with a pair of 2-1 wins at Hamilton.
• The Continentals are going for their first conference title and the automatic bid to the 11-team NCAA championship.