Women’s Hockey Beats, Ties Trinity on the Road

The Middlebury women’s ice hockey team began the month of December with a win and a tie on Saturday, Dec. 2 and Sunday, Dec. 3 against Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. The first game on Saturday ended in a 1-1 tie after both teams failed to convert in overtime. The next day, however, the Panthers rebounded with a 4-1 win. After the weekend, the team holds a 4-1-1 record with one more game remaining before Christmas break.

The first match-up against Trinity ended in a tie, even though Middlebury outshot Trinity 45-21.

Middlebury held a 1-0 lead throughout the entire game after Molly Downey ’13 scored with 3:42 left in the first period.

Trinity, however, came back to tie the game with 12:14 left in the third period and Middlebury, unfortunately, couldn’t get one of its 21 shots in for a goal to end the game in regulation time.

After five minutes of scoreless overtime, the game concluded in a tie.

During the game Middlebury was penalized four times for a total of eight minutes on the penalty kill, while Trinity drew six penalties, giving up 12 minutes of power-play time for the Panthers.

Emily Fluke ’15 and Hannah Bielawski ’15 assisted Downey’s goal in the first period. Annabelle Jones ’15 had a successful game with a total of 20 saves: nine in the first period, six in the second, three in the third and two in overtime, with only the one goal against.

The game on Sunday against the Bantams concluded much more favorably for the Panthers. The 4-1 loss was Trinity’s first of the season, forcing them to a 2-1-2 record overall and a 1-1-2 record in the NESCAC. The Bantams failed to score on multiple opportunities despite the fact that they outshot Middlebury 35-28.

The Panthers set the tone for the game from the moment they stepped on the ice, with MacKenzie Martin ’15 scoring a goal in the first 1:15 of the game. Also in the first period, Katie Mandigo ’16 scored her first career goal on a power play at the 8:44 mark. Bielawski then scored her fifth goal of the year at 13:19. At the 15:00 mark in the second period, Downey added one more point to the board, making the score 4-0 until Trinity tapped one in at 18:26 to end the second period 4-1.

The last 20 minutes of the game in the third period remained scoreless.

Assists were awarded to Madeline Joyce ’14 for the first goal, Jennifer Krakower ’14 and Bielawski for the second, Krakower and Katie Sullivan ’15 for the third tally, and Fluke for the final.

Laura Pinsent ’14 had an outstanding game in goal, finishing with a total of 34 saves: 12 in the first period, 12 in the second and 10 in the third.

“The difference between Saturday and Sunday’s games was capitalizing on chances,” said Madison Styrbicki ’13. “We outshot Trinity by a lot on Saturday, but couldn’t get the puck past their goalie. [Coach Bill Mandigo] shaped our mentality to believed that Trinity had taken something from us the night before, and we had to prove that we were better than them.”

The Panthers are currently ranked fourth in the country, and hold a 3-0-1 record overall in the NESCAC.

The team plays next on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. against Castleton State in the final game of the semester.

After nine consecutive losing seasons, the Spartans enter the contest with a 5-2-1 record and have improved their win total each of the last three seasons. Second-year head coach Bill Bowers has a much-improved team, which has already matched the win total from four of the last six seasons.

“Over break, it’s a chance for the team to relax at home and regroup,” said Styrbicki. “While we will continue to work out, being away from the team and on-ice competition ignites a sense of hunger for when we come back late December. We always come back from break with a revived sense of excitement.”

The Panthers will return with three games in four days, traveling to Utica in their first competition of the new year before returning home to host Wesleyan Jan. 4 and 5, when the NESCAC schedule beings in earnest.