Frozen-Four fixtures for fourth 'fois'

Author: Seth Miran

Four is the magic number. Four Frozen Fours in four years is not your everyday feat. Yet that is exactly what the women's hockey team accomplished on Friday night with its fourth NCAA quarterfinal victory in as many years, defeating the Manhattanville Valiants 3-1. And if history serves as any precedent, the Panthers' work is far from finished.

Energized by a record crowd of 755 spectators, the most ever to watch a women's hockey game in Kenyon Arena, the Panthers came out strong, dominating the first 10 minutes of play. Manhattanville failed to register a shot in the first 7:20 of the game. The Panthers, who outshot the Valiants by a count of 39-14 on the night, held a 13-4 advantage in shots on goal midway through the first period.

"As a team we had tremendous energy all day long," said Captain Shannon Sylvester '07. "There was a confidence and a look in each person's eyes that showed an understanding that we were going to win. That sense of communal trust is something we have been working towards all season and it was great to see it shine through on Friday."

Middlebury was unable to convert on any of those 13 shots and only registered one shot in the second 10 minutes of the first period as momentum shifted noticeably in favor of Manhattanville. The Valiants had two excellent scoring chances during that stretch, both of which were thwarted by Panther netminder Lani Wright '10. Wright finished with 13 saves on the evening while earning her 12th victory of the season.

The streaky play of both teams resulted in a scoreless first period, with both teams going 0-for-3 on the power play.

Clearly fired up following the first intermission, the Panthers again came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second period. Middlebury finally cracked Manhattanville goalie Karine Turmel at the 11:36 mark.

With the Panthers up one skater after a Manhattanville penalty, a slap shot from the point by Shannon Tarrant '07 caromed off the right post. Abby Kurtz-Phelan '07 scooped up the puck and fed it back to Tarrant, who fired another slap shot from nearly the same spot on the ice. This time, Tarrant would not be denied, as she lit the lamp for the first score of the game.

The assist by Kurtz-Phelan was her 100th career point, making her the third Panther to garner that accolade this season. Fellow seniors Tarrant and Sylvester accomplished the same feat earlier in the season.

Although the Panthers continued to generate excellent scoring chances throughout the remainder of the second period, it would be the Valiants who scored next. With 1:56 left in the period, Monique Rafferty swooped in and snapped a shot over the left shoulder of Wright to knot the game at one goal apiece.

The score would stay that way for almost all of the third period, with both teams generating quality scoring chances. Annmarie Cellino '09, who scored a crucial goal three weeks ago against Plattsburgh, came through in the clutch once again. Cellino brought the puck up ice before blasting a knuckle puck from just inside the blue line over the right shoulder of Turmel.

Erika Nakamura '09 added an empty net goal 37 seconds later to seal the victory.

The Frozen Four weekend kicks off this Friday, March 16 with Middlebury taking on Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The winner of that game will earn the right to play either Amherst or top-ranked Plattsburgh, the host of this year's Final Four.

Even though this is the fourth consecutive year that the Panthers have reached the Final Four, it does not diminish the excitement surrounding the upcoming weekend.

"It is always such an honor and a privilege to play on that last weekend of the season," said Tarrant. "This is the opportunity that we have worked for all year long.This is such a special group of people on this year's team, and we want to make the most of the time that we have left together as an entire group."