Women’s Hockey Triumphs with Chilling Win Against Connecticut College

The Middlebury women’s hockey team was straight fire in a fierce game against Connecticut College on Feb. 23, scoring twice in the final 37 seconds and again in overtime to send themselves to the NESCAC semifinals. After a fast-paced but scoreless first period, the visiting Camels got on the board first, scoring on a power play early in the second period. They scored again just over a minute later to double the deficit for the Panthers. With a minute left in the game, head coach Bill Mandigo pulled junior goalie Lin Han for an extra skater. Senior captain Jenna Marotta sent a wrist shot past the Connecticut College goalie with 36.7 seconds remaining to make the score 2-1. Then, with 16 seconds left on the clock, senior Katherine Jackson took a rebound from junior Sidney Porter’s shot and slammed it home.

“I think we just kept thinking in the back of our minds that we can do this,” Marotta said. “After we got the first goal, we had some momentum going into the last 20 seconds or so. We were just trying to throw the puck at the net and get some traffic in front of the goalie.”

Just over two minutes into the overtime period, a shot by Jackson was deflected by first-year Jenna Letterie and bounced off the Camel goalie, finding sophomore Madie Leidt in front of the net to backhand the rebound in.

“We came into the overtime with a ton of energy, obviously building off the quick two goals to tie the game in the third. Scoring in the first three minutes was surreal,” Marotta said about Leidt’s team-leading 10th goal of the season. Senior alternate captain Rachael St. Clair added, “That was for sure the most rewarding win I’ve been a part of in my athletic career.”

The victory sends Middlebury to meet Hamilton in the NESCAC semifinals, to be held at Williams College on March 2. Although the Panthers have won both matchups against Hamilton this season, the third-ranked Continentals have won six of their past seven games and look to be a tough challenge.

“Hamilton is a good team and very well-coached,” Marotta said. “Our goal is just to stay focused on each and every shift, do the little things and win battles.” St. Clair agreed saying, “One step at a time. This weekend’s win definitely gives us a boost going into Saturday. We are going to use the momentum and play three solid periods.”

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