AMHERST, Mass. –Alex Toupal registered a hat trick to lead the Amherst women's ice hockey team to a 4-0 shutout victory over Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon at Orr Rink.

With the win, Amherst improved to 7-4-2 overall and to 3-3-2 in NESCAC play, while Bowdoin falls to 8-4-2 on the season and to 3-3-1 in league action.

Game Highlights

• Kerri St. Denis kept the game in a scoreless tie midway through the opening period with a glove save while facing down a two-on-one. Following a perfectly angled breakout pass off the boards from Caitlyn Ryan, Toupal dished a pass to Sara Culhane alone in the high slot, but St. Denis recorded the stop on the attempt.
• Amherst broke through with 3:54 on the clock, with Toupal netting her team-leading eighth goal of the season and second shorthanded tally of the year to give Amherst a 1-0 edge. Racing out to the point, Culhane blocked a defenders shot, skated into the offensive zone and sent a leading pass to Toupal on the right hash mark. Toupal wristed a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.
• In a strong individual effort, Julie Dachille earned scoring opportunity for Bowdoin at the 8:56 mark, stripping the puck from a defender on the forecheck and sending a shot on target from the slot while falling to the ice, but the Amherst goalie came up with a stop.
• Taking advantage of a breakaway opportunity after a tape-to-tape pass from Katie Savage, Brenna Sullivan rifled a wrist shot over the glove of St. Denis to give Amherst a 2-0 lead with 5:15 on the clock.
• Extending Amherst's lead to 3-0, Toupal notched her second score of the game 5:25 into the final period, deking around the goalie and sending the puck into an open net. 
• Toupal made it a 4-0 contest with 9:52 to play as she one-timed a pass from Anne Malloy over the glove of St. Denis on the power play.
• Jess Bowen and Maureen Greason both made bids to put Bowdoin on the board with 3:11 and 32.5 seconds remaining. Bowen's one-timer sailed just wide and Greason snap shot was gloved down.

By the Numbers

• Amherst went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Polar Bears were 0-for-2.
• St. Denis ended the day with 37 saves in net.
• Bailey Plaman made 22 stops to earn the shutout.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to Watson Arena for a 7:00 p.m. game against Endicott on Tuesday.