Women's hockey slides by the Williams Ephs

Author: Alex Lovett-Woodsum

The Middlebury women's hockey team opened up the NESCAC tournament with a solid quarterfinal win over Williams this Saturday, Feb. 28, out-shooting the Ephs by a 47-11 margin.

This was the team's third time facing off with the Ephs this season, with all three games ending in wins for the Middlebury squad. Middlebury goaltender Lexi Bloom '11 made 11 stops on the afternoon, while Williams' Sarah Plunkett managed to make an impressive 44 saves after being bombarded with shots by the Panthers all game.

Though the Panthers were close to scoring several times in the first period, Plunkett managed to hold off a number of great shots from the Middlebury offense, including an early shot off the pipe from Ashley Bairos '10 and a tip by Heather McCormack '10 that also hit the post. The Panthers' relentless offense outshot the Ephs 19-5 in the first period, but the game remained in a scoreless tie.

The teams remained tied for the first 18:34 of the second period, with both teams getting off a number of shots that were stopped by solid goaltending. McCormack finally took a shot that was finished off by Annmarie Cellino '09 for her ninth goal of the year, giving the Panthers a 1-0 advantage late in the second period.

The Panthers' 1-0 lead was quickly erased by Williams five minutes into the final period as Jacqueline Berglass and Tracey Ferriter overcame the Middlebury defense in a two-on-one, with Berglass netting the goal.

But the Panthers regained the lead just 2:34 later when rookie Maggie Melberg '12 tipped in a shot off of a feed from McCormack.

Melberg, whom Lani Wright '10 described as "a real asset and a great addition to the team," scored her first two career goals in the team's season opener - and her collegiate debut - against Williams, netting the winning goal in that game as well. She is third on the team with 23 points and is tied for first in goals scored with 11.

Bairos described Melberg as "a great person to have on the team. She's going to be a key player for us next year when we lose several high scoring seniors. She and all the other freshman have contributed greatly this year."

Middlebury's third and final goal of the game came at the 16:05 mark, as McCormack scored off a rebound from Marjie Billings '10, adding her third point of the afternoon and helping to secure the victory.

McCormack has been on a hot streak toward the end of the season, scoring an important goal in each of Middlebury's past four games.

"Heather has been playing great all season, and particularly well right now," said Wright. We will certainly be looking for her contributions at NESCACs this coming weekend."

Middlebury heads to Amherst to play a semifinal game against Colby, whom they have beaten twice this season. Middlebury was ranked fourth in the east in the recently released regional rankings, behind RIT, Amherst and Plattsburgh.

If the Panthers win their match-up with Colby, they will likely have to face Amherst, the number one ranked team in the NESCAC, which has beaten them twice this season.

With the way Middlebury has been playing recently - winning four straight margins of two, three, five and six - the team certainly won't go down without a fight and is a serious contender for the NESCAC Championship.