Women clinch top seed for NESCAC tourney

Author: James Kerrigan

After 18 consecutive wins to start the 2005-2006 campaign, the Middlebury women's hockey team suffered back to back losses and lost a chance to go undefeated.

The club had been in cruise control, picking up three key victories on the road against New England College (NEC), Colby, and Bowdoin to finish 10-0 during the month of January.

Middlebury traveled to NEC and squeaked out a 2-1, come-from-behind win. Senior Co-Capitain Emily Quizon '06 netted the equalizer in the second period while Annmarie Cellino '09 banged home the game winner with 7:15 remaining in the third period.

Maine schools gave the Panthers little trouble as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Colby followed by a 9-1 thrashing of Bowdoin, ignited by two early goals from Panther forward, Abby Kurtz-Phelan '07.

Next up for Middlebury was Gustavus, a small, liberal arts college in Minnesota. The number 1 ranked Panthers faced off against the number 3 ranked Gusties in a battle for Division III supremacy. They traveled from the state of 10,000 (frozen) lakes, but it was Middlebury netminder Kate Kogut '06 who looked most comfortable on the ice as she stopped all 26 Gusty shots. While Kogut dominated her net, first-year Cellino took care of business at the other end, contributing on all three Panther goals. After failing to convert the first three power plays of the game, Cellino finally netted a goal in the team's fourth opportunity with an assist to Quizon. Junior blue-liner Shannon Tarrant scored another late in the period power play goal that put the Panthers up 2-0. After assisting the second goal, Cellino finished with an empty-net goal with 2:38 remaining.

Cellino's empty-netter turned out to be the last gift the Panther's got for a while as they took their first two losses of the season against Williams and Plattsburg. "We had a mental lapse," said Quizon. "There are no excuses for our losses. We simply got out-worked and out-played." After a 24-game winning streak (a Division III women's record) Williams handed Middlebury a somewhat unexpected loss. On Dec. 10, Middlebury traveled to Williams and beat the Ephs 4-1 on their home rink. History repeated itself just two months later as Middlebury suffered a 4-1 home loss to Williams. Things looked good early as Cellino assisted Quizon's first period goal. But four unanswered Williams' goals were too much for Middlebury. And so, the streak came to an end. During this stretch, the Panthers tallied 24 straight wins, five shutouts, 123 goals scored, 43 goals against and one National Champsionship in 11 months.

Middlebury was unable to rebound as Plattsburg took the contest 4-1. In November, the Panther's handed Plattsburg its first (and only) loss of the season - but the Cardinals avenged the early performance with a crucial win. Now things are reversed: Plattsburg is ranked number 1 and looking like the team to beat.

However, Middlebury ended the week on a positive note picking up two division wins against Connecticut College (2-0) and Amherst (4-1).

Although the losses were tough to swallow, losing is always preferable in the early season than later on. It's all business for the Panthers as they look to get back to their winning ways by playing the way they are capable of playing. Quizon commented, "We just need to regroup and get back to playing Middlebury hockey." They are, in fact, in control of their own playoff destiny - if they take care of Hamilton and Trinity on the road this weekend, they will house the NESCAC tournament on March 4 and 5.