Women's hockey takes back the NESCAC crown

Author: Alex Lovett-Woodsum

The women's hockey team closed out a great weekend in the NESCAC tournament at Amherst, beating Colby in the semifinals 4-2 before upsetting top-seeded Amherst team with a 4-3 win in overtime to take the NESCAC championship. The win avenges a pair of losses to Amherst, who beat the Panthers 3-0 early in the season and 5-0 just three weeks ago. Middlebury's win also snaps Amherst's 50-game unbeaten streak against NESCAC opponents (43-0-7) and a six-game winning streak against Middlebury (3-0-3). This game marks Middlebury's sixth appearance in the NESCAC finals game and their fourth win, earning them an automatic bid to the NCAA D-III tournament.

Middlebury started off the weekend in the semifinals against Colby with a solid win, outshooting the Mules 61-20.

The Mules scored the tying goal just 3:05 into the period as a deep slap shot from Andrea Fuwa '10 found its way into the net. Middlebury fired back a few minutes later with defensewoman Heidi Woodworth '12 scoring her first goal of the season off a feed from senior captain Randi Dumont '09 to make it a 2-1 game. Five minutes later, the Panthers' first-year Haley MacKeen '12 scored, diving over Brown to poke the puck in.

The Panthers continued to dominate play for the rest of the second period and into the third, with Ashley Bairos '10 scoring at 12:27 with assists from Andrea Buono '11 and Heather McCormack '10. Colby scored a power play goal with 6:21 to go in the period, but Middlebury held the Mules off for the rest of the game and went on to win 4-2.

The Panthers came out strong against Amherst on Sunday, taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play in the first period and scoring first, with the rebound goal coming for first-year Maggie Melberg '12 off a shot from Nora Bergman '11. Still on the power play, Middlebury increased the lead 57 seconds later with a shot by Dumont. Amherst 's Kirsten Dier responded with a shot past Middlebury goaltender Lexi Bloom '11 to cut Middlebury's lead to one. The Lord Jeffs had power play opportunity with 1:51 to play in the period, but despite heavy pressure, Bloom managed to fend them off with outstanding play in net.

Middlebury added to its lead just 3:14 into the second on a power play as Cellino scored her second goal of the weekend. The Jeffs got another 5-on-3 opportunity eight minutes into the second. The Panthers killed the first penalty, but were unable to fight off the second as Megan Curry put in a rebound to make it a one-goal game.

The first eight minutes of the third period were quiet, with no penalties for either team. Amherst first-year Michelle McGann finally broke through with 11:10 to play in regulation to tie the game, which then stayed tied at three apiece as the teams headed into overtime. This would mark only the second overtime game in NESCAC championship history, with the previous game between Amherst and Middlebury ending in a 2-1 victory for the Jeffs in triple-overtime, making it the longest game in the history of Division III women's hockey.

Three minutes into overtime, a pair of matching penalties resulted in two minutes of 4-on-4, with Amherst's Lindsey Harrington almost ending the game on a breakaway. Bloom came up big and stopped her, saving the game for the Panthers. Middlebury's Anna McNally '11 ended the game just five minutes later, breaking through three defenders and poking the puck past the Amherst goalkeeper to win the title..

Middlebury certainly looked like a different team this time around. "We didn't want to have any regrets at the end of the game-we left it all on the ice," said McCormack of their newfound success.

"This game was probably one of the best games we have ever been a part of," said Cellino. "Lexi was amazing in net. For the upperclassmen, it was a great feeling to get redemption for our overtime loss to them two years ago in the championship."

Middlebury now has the NCAA quarterfinals to look forward to, where they will try to win their first national championship since 2006.