Box Score Boxscore
RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's hockey team came out after a 6-2 loss the night before and defeated the Salve Regina Seahawks on Saturday afternoon by a score of 3-1. Three different Valiant players scored as the team won their first home game of the season at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y.
The first period proved to be fairly flat for both sides as neither team could get their offense going against one another's defense. The shots after the first 20 minutes of play was nine to six with the Seahawks leading in that category.
After the first intermission the Valiants came out with a better offensive strategy and went for higher quality shots rather than the quantity as they had tried the night before against Holy Cross. Manhattanville finally broke through 9:35 into the period when junior Kelly Keane (Longmeadow, Mass./New England Falcons (EJHL)) scored her third of the season off assists from classmates Mary Rose Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Stars (MFYHL)) and Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Rangers (PWHL)).
Manhattanville skated into the second intermission with the 1-0 lead while outshooting their opponents by a 12-3 margin in the second frame.
After the break Manhattanville added an insurance goal when junior Caitlyn Beauvais (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers (JWHL)) sent a pass into traffic in the front of the net that was tipped by junior Sonia Occhionero (Montreal, Quebec/Kent School (Conn.)) to classmate Katie Little (Victoria, British Columbia/Team British Columbia) who tipped it in for her second of the year, and the team's second of the game.
Morrison added one more at the 16:57 mark into the period after the initial shot taken by Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Saskatchewan/Sait Polytechnic (ACAC)) was saved, Morrison flicked it on the backhand into the net to give the Valiants a 3-0 lead.
Down three goals Salve Regina pulled its' netminder with just over a minute remaining in favor of the extra attacker. Pulling the goalie eventually helped when Salve Regina scored on a soft shot that was placed perfectly between the post and the left pad of sophomore netminder Mary Evans (Ferndale, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)). So as time had expired the goal was allowed by the officials as the Seahawks narrowly avoided the shutout.
In goal Evans made 19 saves including a game-high nine in the first period, she clinches her first win of the season in only her second start of the year. The loss was credited to Rebecca Simmons who falls to 2-2 on the year while making 27 saves along the way.
Sophomore Mallory Watts (Bloomfield, Mich./Honeybaked (MWEHL)) had an impressive game defensively blocking shots and clearing the puck. Junior defender Lauren Nutkevitch (Montreal, Quebec/Dawson College) also had a solid game as a two-way player as part of the top defensive unit while adding a hard shot in the first period.
Faceoffs were well in favor of Manhattanville as a trio of juniors combined to go 40-for-51 from the faceoff circle, including a perfect 14-for-14 from Jessica Kehoe (Kemptville, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats (PWHL)). Schill went 13-for-17 and Occhionero went 13-for-20.
The Valiants were able to capitalize on one of their three power play chances going 1-for-3 on the man advantage. Salve Regina went 0-for-4 for the game.
Manhattanville (2-4-0, 2-2-0 ECAC East) will be back in action this Tuesday when they host non-conference opponent Neumann at home with the puck to be dropped at 7:00 p.m. Salve Regina (2-3-0, 2-3-0 ECAC East) will not be back in action until December 2 when they take on St. Michaels in ECAC East action at 7:00 p.m.
