Women's hockey beats three NESCAC teams

Author: Seth Miran

The women's hockey team has been awfully busy during the past two weeks as they won three of four games, including important NESCAC victories over Williams, Hamilton and Trinity. While most folks spent Thanksgiving break fading in and out of a food coma, the women's hockey team was hard at work on its quest to win a fourth consecutive national championship.

The Panthers kicked off their season two Saturdays ago at the Plattsburgh Tournament against the host and last year's NCAA runner-up. On this night, unfortunately, the 2006 runners-up beat the 2006 champions.

Entering the third period trailing 2-0, the Panthers were unable to get on the board until 10 minutes in when Molly Vitt '09 cut the Plattsburgh lead in half. Plattsburgh quickly put the game out of reach, however, tacking on two more goals to make it 4-1. Alison Graddock '07 added a goal with 2:50 remaining, but it was too little too late as the Panthers fell by a score of 4-2. Lani Wright '10 had 31 saves between the pipes in the losing effort.

Captain Shannon Sylvester '07 attributed the loss to a variety of factors. She noted that it was on this very same ice against this very same team that the Panthers won their third consecutive national championship last year. "Maybe all those factors created a build-up of too much nervous energy among our returning players. Also, Plattsburgh is a very talented team that lost very few players from last year, and you have to give them credit for the way that they played," she said.

Assistant Captain Shannon Tarrant '07 echoed Sylvester's sentiments. "We made mistakes that most teams make in their first game of the season," she said. "Against a team as skilled as Plattsburgh, it is difficult to win if you're not playing at your peak as a team."

The Panthers were able to come back the next day and eliminate many of those errors, beating a tough Williams squad 5-1. Passes were crisper, the skating was sharper and the shooting was deadlier.

Erika Nakamura '09 started off the scoring with a goal four minutes into the first period. Tarrant scored early in the second period and Williams fired back with a goal midway through the period. Tarrant responded almost immediately with her second score of the period, and Sylvester and Vitt closed out the scoring with one goal apiece in the third. Angie Todd '08 started in goal against Williams, making 25 saves as Middlebury outshot Williams 37-26.

The Panthers carried that momentum from their victory over Williams into this past weekend's contests, eeking out a victory over a much-improved Hamilton squad on Friday before defeating Trinity rather handily.

Coach Bill Mandigo decided to tweak the team's system in the week following the Plattsburgh Tournament in an effort to generate more offense. It was apparent during the Panthers' opening NESCAC contest against Hamilton that they were still adjusting to these recent changes.

An exciting third period saw Hamilton take a 3-2 lead with two power play goals only a minute apart. Graddock responded with a goal shortly thereafter, tying the game at 3-3. With 1:34 remaining, Middlebury called a timeout to draw up a play. Nakamura passed the puck behind the net to Sylvester, who brought it out in front to the slot. With a number of bodies cluttered in front, Sylvester fired a highlight-reel shot, scorching the netting in the upper right corner with 34 seconds remaining to secure a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory.

Vitt continued her scoring tear with another goal against Hamilton, and last year's leading scorer Annmarie Cellino '09 added a goal and an assist of her own. Wright had 18 saves, half of which came during the crucial third period.

The star of the game, however, was clearly Sylvester. "She worked so hard throughout the entire game," said Tarrant. "Not only was it evident in her level of play, but it motivated everyone on the team to step her game up a notch or two."

Energized by Saturday's victory, Middlebury came out firing on all cylinders this past Sunday. The Panthers scored three first period goals en route to a 4-0 shutout of Trinity. Karen Levin '08 had two of those goals and Nakamura tallied her second score of the season. Newcomer Ashley Bairos '10 also notched her first career goal.

Abby Smith '08 started against the Bantams and earned a shutout with 13 saves, indicating that fans should expect a goalie-by-committee approach, at least for the foreseeable future.

Overall, Sunday's victory over Trinity capped another successful start to a season for the women's hockey team.

"Every time that we have stepped on the ice, we have improved some facet of our game as a team," said Sylvester. There is no reason to think that this will not continue as the Panthers take on Connecticut College and Amherst this weekend.