Women’s Hockey Team Skates by Third-ranked Elmira

This past Saturday, Feb. 16, the Middlebury women’s ice hockey team competed in their last regular season game against third-ranked Elmira. The game ended in a 3-1 win for the six-ranked Panthers, who locked down the top seed for the upcoming NESCAC tournament with the win.

The first period of the game ended without any scoring after back-and-forth attempts by both teams came up empty. In the second period, however, Middlebury tapped in two goals to Elmira’s one to take the lead. The first was scored by Lauren Greer ’13 and assisted by Julia Wardwell ’16. For the second goal, Emily Fluke ’15 fed Katie Mandigo ’16, who tapped in the puck for the score.

While the third period was another shutout for Middlebury, the team scored one more goal to end the game with a score of 3-1. The final goal of the game was tallied by Molly Downey ’13 and assisted by both Mandigo and Mackenzie Martin ’15.

“It was a really big win and has given us a lot of confidence going into the NESCAC tournament,” said tri-captain Heather Marrison ’13. “Elmira was an extremely strong team but we played very well.”

Goalkeeper Annabelle Jones ’15 stood out for the Panthers, recording 29 saves to keep Middlebury in the game throughout.

Overall Middlebury recorded an aggressive game with four penalties to Elmira’s three. The Soaring Eagles did manage seven more shots than the Panthers, holding a 30-23 advantage.

The Panthers came up empty on three power-play opportunities in the game, while the Soaring Eagles were one of four in power plays.

Despite playing two more player-down minutes and suffering a shot deficit, the Panthers still brought home the victory, leaving them in a strong position heading into the postseason.

“NESCACs will be a great test of how far our team has come and how determined we are to win,” said Wardwell.

The Panthers pushed their record to 16-6-2 with the victory over Elmira, and will look for a jump in the national poll following a victory over a higher-seeded opponent.

Entering as the conference number-one seed, the Panthers host Colby in a NESCAC quarterfinal contest on Saturday, Feb. 23 in Kenyon Arena. If the Panthers prevail against the Mules, they will host the conference semifinal and championship on the following weekend.

“We played Colby the first games of the season and we are now excited to get to play them again to see how much progress we have made.” said Marrison.