Women's hockey chalk up two NESCAC wins

Author: Anna Christina Furney

The face of Middlebury women's hockey has been a strong presence both on the ice and in the press during the past 10 days. Continuing with a strong record, the women Panther's hockey team continues into the season with a 17-1-1 track record. While the team experienced their first loss of the season against Plattsburgh on Jan. 26, both their players and their team remain strong as they go into the rest of their NESCAC season. After being faced with their first loss, the girls made a quick turn around in their play - as displayed in their exemplary wins against Connecticut, Amherst, Wesleyan and Trinity.

The week of the 26th was a rough one, as the girls faced number three Plattsburg in New York State. Going into the second period with a 1-0 advantage over Plattsburgh, the Panthers were faced with a goal by their opponent early in the second. Plattsburgh only gained momentum as the third period's time wore out - netting two more goals and advancing their lead to 3-1. Tension built as one of Middlebury's top scorers, Lorna Gifis '05 found the back of the goal for the second time in the long evening. But however strong the effort was on the Panther's side, the Plattsburgh women increased their tally in the fourth period to 4-2 and fended off their Middlebury opponent until the game's end.

However disheartening the loss was to the Middlebury women's team, as fans we wouldn't have been able to tell as they led their school to a 9-0 win over the Connecticut Camels on Jan. 28. The Panthers' opponent showed little defense to Middlebury's strong forward attack - and Middlebury's team members used this opportune moments to rack up a high score.

It is evident within the amount of individual scorers that the team remains reliant on the effort of the group as a whole. Six Middlebury women scored throughout the night. While Gifis was relentless in her attack - scoring four goals for the Panthers - five of her teammates also displayed strong play. Middlebury student-athletes Shannon Tarrant '07, Gillian Paul '08, Emily Quizon '05 and Alison Graddock '07 all managed one goal a-piece. Karen Levin '08 and Shannon Sylvester '07 both remained strong in their attack, donating three assists each to the team's impressive score.

Ending the month of January without relent, the Panther women devoured Amherst in a 5-0 win. It was again Gifis who attacked the net. She dispensed two goals within the third period. Without the aggressive play by teammates, Allison Liati '05, Graddock and Emily McNamara '07 however, the Panthers would have been faced with a much greater challenge. It is apparent amongst the diversity of scorers on the ice that the Middlebury women function as a strong cohesive unit.

It was with their teamwork that they helped two Middlebury players to be honored by within the past weeks. Quizon appeared in the Jan. 27 issue of "Sports Illustrated" amongst fellow student-athletes shown in the "faces in the crowd" section of the publication. Scoring the 100th point of her career during the past week of play, Quizon continues to be a strong contributor to the impressive record of the women's team. Following this honor, came the distinction of NESCAC "Player of the Week" for Gifis. This Middlebury senior's honor was highly deserved. After scoring eight goals within one week of play and contributing to the team's success throughout the entire season, it is hard to ignore her presence on the ice.

With confidence in hand, the team took two wins away from their games against opponents Wesleyan and Trinity. The Wesleyan game on Feb. 4 was lead by individual goals from Panther players Velez, Graddock, Tania Kenney '08, Jackie Cohen '05, Quizon and Gifis.

Middlebury's game against Trinity came and went with just as much ease as their game the day before. Ending the match with an 8-1 score, the Middlebury Panther players displayed their scoring prowess without relent. Gloria Velez made two goals and an assist within the game, while fellow teammate Tory MacNeil added a pair of goals. Individual goals came from Shannon Tarrant and Shannon Sylvester.

Look out for fiery play on the eighth of February, as the girls defend their home ice from the team that gave them their one loss of the season, Plattsburgh.

With only five more games until the post-season begins for the women, we should expect a continuation of their strong record from the regular season.