Women’s Hockey: Power Moves Only

The Middlebury women’s hockey team beat the Utica College Pioneers 4-3 on Saturday, Dec. 8 before taking off for winter break. Goals by Katie Hargrave ’22, Madie Leidt ’21, and Katherine Jackson ’19 lifted the Panthers to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Utica’s Lexi Stanisewski got the Pioneers on the board less than a minute later, and the period would end 3-1. Middlebury senior Katarina Shuchuk slipped a shot through Utica goalie Bria Reilly’s five-hole midway through the second period to make it 4-1, but the Pioneers came back to score on the power play with 2:16 left in the period. Utica’s Maddie Paydos would score again in the third period to make it 4-3, but the Panthers defense locked down and secured the win.

Middlebury returned from winter break with a double header at home against Amherst on Jan. 4 and 5. The Mammoths opened scoring 16:21 into the first period on a power play goal from Jocelyn Hunyadi after a few early chances. Just over a minute into the second period, Middlebury scored a power play goal of their own as Hargrave converted a rebound from junior Anna Zumwinkle’s shot. The third period was carried by Middlebury, who held a 14-4 shots advantage. Despite a few good chances for the Panthers, none were converted, and the game went to overtime. Both sides had one significant chance each, but neither scored, ending the game in a 1-1 tie.

The second game against Amherst held a better result for Middlebury as a hat-trick by Leidt lifted the Panthers into a 3-0 shutout over the Mammoths. Sophomore goalie Anna Goldstein stood strong against Amherst’s forward push, stopping all 24 shots she faced for her second shutout of the season.

The Panthers faced SUNY Potsdam’s Bears on the road on Jan. 8. The scoreless first period had a shot advantage to the visiting team (11-6), who posted five of those on the only power play chance of the period. The scoring started early in the second period as sophomore Ellie Barney sent her own rebound into the net with just 1:33 off the clock. In the third period, Middlebury’s Hargrave scored with just under seven minutes left, leading to a 2-1 win.

Last weekend had Middlebury adding two more wins to their record as they beat Endicott and UMass Boston on Jan. 11 and 12, respectively. Junior goalie Lin Han earned her second shutout of the season as the Panthers beat Endicott 3-0 off goals in each of the three periods. First-year Eva Hendrikson opened scoring in the first on a power play goal. In the second period, Leidt and Sidney Portner ’20 rang shots off the post before first year Jenna Letterie doubled the lead with just over a minute left. Letterie added an empty net goal at the end of the third to seal the Panthers victory.

Saturday’s contest against UMass  Boston had Middlebury continue an eight game unbeaten streak and improve to 8-1-3 on the season as they beat the Beacons 4-0. Special teams won the day as three power play goals and three successful penalty kills helped the Panthers to the top. Morgan Griffin ’21 scored her first goal as a Panther and Hendrikson, Shuchuk, and Zumwinkle all scored power play goals. Middlebury also dominated shots 49-8 as Goldstein and first-year goalie Caroline Silk shared the shutout.

Seventh-ranked Middlebury hopes to continue their unbeaten streak with a double header against Bowdoin next weekend. Bowdoin has yet to win a game in NESCAC play this season.