Amherst, Mass. - Trinity College junior goaltender Geoffrey Faulkner (Westerville, Ohio) made a career-high 56 saves to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 2-2 tie against the Amherst College Lord Jeffs in New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s ice hockey action this afternoon.

Trinity, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division III, is now 9-2-2 and 6-0-1 in the NESCAC, while No. 13 Amherst moves to 7-3-2 and 3-2-2 in the league with its second consecutive tie. Trinity maintains a three-game unbeaten streak, and the Jeffs now have a three-game winless streak. Amherst defeated Trinity, 6-2, in late November in the McCabe Tournament first round.

The Jeffs went ahead 2-0, scoring 7:27 into the game on a goal by freshman forward Mike Kreger (Glenview, Ill.). After Lord Jeff junior forward Darren Rheaume (West Seneca, N.Y.) gave Amherst a 2-0 lead with a 6x4 goal 7:37 into the second period, the Bantams scored in the closing seconds of the second period when junior defenseman Matt Brown (Reading, Mass.) assisted sophomore forward Greg O'Leary (Reading, Mass.) on a desperation shot that beat the buzzer by a tick. The Bantams tied the score for good on a goal by sophomore forward Dustin Kim (Laurel, Md.) with 12:19 remaining in regulation. Junior defensemen Mike Sayre (Walpole, N.H.) and Martins Lans (Carnikava, Latvia) assisted Kim on the play.

Faulkner, who was the reigning NESCAC and the United States College Hockey Online.com Player of the Week, held Amherst scoreless over the final 32:23 and added three saves in the overtime. Amherst senior netminder Nick Rieser (Northfield, Ill.) stopped 21 Bantam shots.

Trinity, Conn. (9-2-2)                  0 1 1 0 -- 2

Amherst (7-3-2)                     1 1 0 0 -- 2

SCORING

A- Mike Kreger (Justin Pitrack, Chris Norqual) 7:27.

A- Darren Rheaume (Greg Carr, Jim Smith) pp 7:37, TC- Greg O'Leary (Matthew Brown) 0:01.

TC- Dustin Kim (Martins Lans, Mike Sayre) 7:41.

GOALIE SAVES

TC- Geoff Faulkner - 56

A- Nick Rieser - 21

PENALTIES

TC- 9/18

A- 7/14

POWER PLAY

TC- 0/5

A- 1/7