The Amherst women’s hockey team lost 3-1 to Wisconsin-River Falls in Friday’s NCAA Division 3 semifinal at Hunt Arena in Wisconsin, ending its season just shy of a second straight championship game appearance.
The 3-1 loss mirrored last season’s NCAA championship game, which Wisconsin-River Falls also won 3-1.
Senior goalie Natalie Stott, who has a Division 3-record 45 shutouts and led the nation with a 0.63 goals-against average entering Friday, made 30 saves on 33 shots in the loss. It was the first time the Mammoths allowed three or more goals in a game this season after allowing two goals just three times in the season.
Special teams were crucial for Wisconsin-River Falls in the win, as Alexa Niccum and Megan Goodreau scored power-play goals in the first and second periods, respectively, to help the Falcons jump out to a lead. Madison Kadrlik scored with 8:28 left in the second period to give her team a commanding three-goal lead.
Amherst denied Wisconsin River-Falls goalie Jordan O’Kane (30 saves) of a shutout when Maeve Reynolds scored a power-play goal with 3:06 left in regulation. It wasn’t enough for the Mammoths, though, whose season ends Friday.
The Falcons will face Nazareth University in the national championship game, as the Golden Flyers came back from a two-goal deficit in the third period and won 5-4 in overtime over Norwich Friday. Meredith Boettcher scored the game-winning goal just 29 seconds into the extra frame. Boettcher had three points (one goal, two assists) for Nazareth, which improved to 29-1-1 with the victory.
It’s the first ever national championship appearance for Nazareth, who will face the two-time defending champion Falcons.
Kevin Dillon can be reached at kevin.dillon@globe.com. Follow him on X @ByKevinDillon.