Despite valiant effort, Valiants top Panthers Manhattanville ends women's run

Author: Jeff Patterson

Right from the get-go, it was apparent that something was not right. The national anthem had not come on right away - instead it took some time (and some listening to a yet-to-be-identified song) to get things right. Assistant captain Annmarie Cellino '09 had not eaten her customary Snickers bar right before the game, either.

"I try to eat a Snickers bar before every hockey game," said Cellino, in an interview right after her 19th Century American Literature class. "I did it all last year, every single game. I've done it a couple of times this year, but I haven't stuck to it."

When the game finally started, things happened quickly. Right off the bat, Heather McCormack '10 struck first, just 4:07 in, to put Middlebury up 1-0 in its fourth consecutive NCAA quarterfinal matchup with Manhattanville College. Hungry? Why wait? McCormack was, and did not.

"They are always usually one of the best games we play all year," said Cellino of Manhattanville. "Always a hard game, usually a one-goal game. I thought they were a lot faster than they were last year."

Manhattanville was not just fast on the ice - the Valiants were not ones to wait very long get on the scoreboard. A New York minute after McCormack's goal, Danielle Nagymarosi's 32nd goal of the year tied things up.

Again something had gone wrong, but Middlebury could do nothing about it. McCormack had been whistled for a tripping penalty, but one of the referees put co-captain Tania Kenny '08 in the penalty box instead. One of the Panthers' most experienced defenders - Saturday marked the 106th game of her career - was thus forced off the ice at a junction when her team needed her most.

Ten seconds after the whistle for this incorrectly assessed infraction, Nagymarosi did not fail to convert on her opportunity.

After two more sets of Middlebury scoring to take a one-goal lead and Manhattanville answering right back, the game remained tied right until the very end. It eventually took one team to score its fourth goal for this back-and-forth affair to end.

Right at the 14:38 mark of overtime, Danielle Mazurek skated down the right side and rifled a frozen rope right over the right shoulder of Lani Wright '10 - right below the spot where the cross bar makes a right angle with the far post. Right away, everyone on the away team threw away their equipment and went berserk, jumping on Mazurek.

The Valiants had gotten away with murder - committing two penalties in the sudden-death period - as they did away with the fourth-ranked Panther hockey team.

It was a different Panther hockey team, from top to bottom, than most had seen all year, though. For starters, head coach Bill Mandigo was wearing a blazer. With his colorful tie and equally colorful belt, he looked like someone out of a Vineyard Vines catalogue.

"[Mandigo] was wearing a suit coat for the first time ever at the game," said Cellino, who is used to seeing him in just his Middlebury hockey warm-up jacket. "He always walks in and does a pre-game speech, but when he walked in a suit coat, we all were just in shock. He started strutting around. It was really funny. We all cheered."

There were other changes, too - ones that had more of an influence on the game's final score. "He changed up the power play, he changed up the lines, he changed up the backs too," said Cellino. "Last week [what we were doing] didn't work in NESCACs, so he wanted to do something different."

Cellino, who had played nearly every game with NESCAC Rookie of the Year Anna McNally '11 and amassed 13 goals and 29 assists during that span, was on the line with Erika Nakamura '09 instead.

"She's in my class, but I had never played with her really," said Cellino of Nakamura. "This was the first time we were ever linemates. We didn't have much time to get acquainted with each other on the ice."

Although Middlebury out-shot Manhattanville 15-6 in overtime, the Panthers' best chance came when Cellino had empty ice in front of her and the goal in sight. Alex Findlay - who had scored the Valiants' third goal to send the game to the extra frame - caught up to her, though, albeit getting called for a tripping penalty in the process.

"I don't even know if it should have been called a penalty," said Cellino. "I mean, I tried to get a shot off and she just kind of knocked it away and I fell. I would have liked a penalty shot even though it wasn't warranted."

If it had been a penalty shot, Cellino was quick to point out that she would not be the one taking it.

"I would vote for Karen Levin '08 to take it," she said. "You can have anyone take it and she's our go-to for that. She does this shoulder dip and then she cuts back and roofs it on the forehand. She's great at it."

The penalty shot, like the game-winning goal, never came for the Panthers. Perhaps the team needed its assistant coach Emily McNamara '07 out on the ice. On March 11, 2005, when the same two teams were deadlocked at two, in the same arena and in the same round of the NCAA tournament, it was McNamara who scored the game-winner.

"We could have used her," said Cellino, "but I actually think Mac has done a really great job as a coach. She's very active in helping the backs. [Mandigo] has given her all the control coaching the backs, which is uncharacteristic of him. He always wants to coach the defense and leaves the assistant coach up to the offense. But he's really given Mac full control and he just coaches the forwards now."

Cellino's American Lit class had spent the day discussing "The Scarlet Letter." Although Hester Prynne's "A" was not blue, like the one on Cellino's home jersey, the two letters seem to share a common thread.

In Cellino's case, the "A" is a reminder, an abbrevation for "almost."

Almost. The only reason the team is currently practicing Spanish conjugations rather than its power play is because the team had bad timing in its last two encounters with overtime. A break here or a break there and there would not be any broken hearts.

Although apparently annoyed and arguably ashamed as April approaches, after an astonishing anomaly - an absolute aberration - almost all are awaiting another annual attempt at avenging archrivals and accumulating another amateur athletic award.