Women's hockey routs Trinity in rematch

Author: Alex Lovett-Woodsum

The Middlebury women's hockey team rallied after a 2-2 tie against the Trinity Bantams Friday night, Jan. 16, to soundly defeat them in the rematch on Saturday, 6-1.

The first game marked the second straight 2-2 tie between the two teams, who last met one year prior to Friday's match-up.

Though Middlebury out-shot Trinity 48-14, strong play from Trinity goalie Isabel Iwachiw helped secure the tie for the Bantams.

Trinity took the lead early in the first period as a shot deflected off a Middlebury defender and was netted by Kim Weiss, with assists from first-year Dominique Di Dia and senior Kelley McCarthy 8:34 into the game.

Trinity kept the lead for most of the second period until Middlebury tied up the game at 15:33 with a shorthanded goal by Annmarie Cellino '09, assisted by Anna McNally '11.

Trinity's Weiss scored her second goal of the night off of a breakaway to give the Bantams the advantage early in the third period. Trinity held off the Panthers with great stops by Iwachiw through the third period, until Middlebury was forced to pull goalie Lani Wright '10 to give them an extra attacker.

The aid of the extra player resulted in a goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game to send it into overtime.

Despite outshooting Trinity 8-0 in overtime and having a power play opportunity, Middlebury was forced to settle for a tie. Wright ended the night with 14 saves and Iwachiw had a remarkable 48 stops to hold off the Panthers.

Ashley Bairos '10 described the first game as "a little disappointing and frustrating. We had a ton of shots and couldn't seem to get any past the goalie. She certainly deserves a lot of credit, as she played a really great game."

Middlebury certainly made the most of its opportunities on Saturday. The Panthers rebounded with a decisive 6-1 victory over Trinity in what Wright called "a truly collaborative effort," with points tallied from 14 different Middlebury players.

"The difference in the second game", said Bairos, "is that we were much more focused on getting the puck to the net and we played much more aggressively all over the ice. We were frustrated after last night's game, and that certainly fueled us tonight. We really played as a cohesive unit and came out on top this time."

Middlebury took the early lead only 27 seconds into the game as Grace Waters '12 scored off a perfect feed from Cellino, who was backed up by McNally. The Panthers made it 2-0 at 9:47 in the first with a goal right outside the crease from NESCAC points leader Molly Vitt, assisted by first-years Maggie Melberg '12 and Maria Bourdeau '12.

The Panthers started strong again in the second period, as Corey Cooper '12 scored her third career goal with assists from Julia Ireland '11 and Haley MacKeen '12 3:14 into the period.

Trinity finally got on the board at 5:43 off of a power play goal scored by senior co-captain Michelle Chee with an assist from Komarek, but Middlebury quickly responded with a pair of goals, the first from Heather McCormack '10 and the second from Bairos, her first of the season. The Panthers managed to hold off the Bantams with a 5-1 lead, with goalie Lexi Bloom '11 making a great save 14 minutes into the third. Nora Bergman '11 wrapped up the scoring for the Panthers with a power play goal late in the game to widen the gap.

The win solidifies Middlebury's place near the top of the league. The Panthers' 6-1-2 record in NESCAC play is second to Amherst, who holds an unblemished 8-0-0 record in the conference.