PURCHASE, N.Y. – Looking to make a push into the NCAA Division III Women's Hockey Tournament for the first time in three seasons, the Manhattanville women's hockey team will have to get by seventh-seeded Castleton State University on Saturday evening in the ECAC East Conference Tournament at Playland Ice Casino.
The Valiants finished the season with a 16-7-2 overall record and a 13-4-1 record in conference play and will take on a Spartans squad that finished with five victories, with three coming in conference games. Manhattanville finished the season with 27 points, just one point ahead of third-seed New England College, as did Castleton, who finished with seven points also just one point ahead of eighth-seed Nichols College.
Leading the Valiants this season was All ECAC East Second-Team member, sophomore Katie Little (Victoria, British Columbia/Team British Columbia), who led the squad in scoring for the second time in her career by finishing with 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists. Her 20 assists led the team, while her 12 goals rank her tied for second. The native of Victoria, British Columbia, also led the team with 102 shots and two shorthanded goals.
Stepping up in conference play this season was classmate Mary Rose Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Stars (MFYHL)), who finished the season with a four-goal performance against Saint Michael's College. Morrison finished the season with the team lead in goals with 16, as 15 of those tallies came in conference games. Her 25 points rank her second on the team as she averages a point per game. Morrison was named an ECAC East Honorable Mention, the first post-season award of her career.
Joining Morrison on the Honorable Mention squad is sophomore Lauren Nutkevitch (Montreal, Quebec/Dawson College), who was named to the All-Rookie Team last season. Nutkevitch led the defense in scoring this year with nine points on three goals and six assists.
Even though she was not recognized on the All-Conference squad, starting netminder Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Quebec/Dawson College) had a nice season in the goal. The sophomore finished with a 9-5-2 record with 2.17 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Also in between the pipes, freshman Mary Evans (Ferndale, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) ended the season with a 7-2 record and had the lowest GAA in the conference, surrendering 1.45 goals per game.
Manhattanville took both games this season over the Spartans, defeating the opposition 6-0 at home and 4-1 on the road. In the home game, Evans made four stops for her first collegiate shutout. Seniors Shannon Coffey (Malden, Mass./North American Hockey Academy) and Holly Nonis (Brampton, Ontario/Saint Thomas Aquinas) finished with three points each, with Coffey scoring twice and Nonis assisting twice. In the final game of the season series, Evans got her second win over the Spartans making 13 saves. Four different Valiants scored as sophomores Morrison, Ella Hubley (Santa Monica, Calif./LA Selects) and Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Rangers (PWHL)), and freshman Mallory Watts (Bloomfield, Mich./Honeybaked (MWEHL)) and all scored in the win.
Leading the way for the Spartans this season is senior Laura Szwed with nine goals and five assists for 14 points. In goal for the Spartans, Amanda Hoy finished with a 3-9-1 record while Katharyn Dembowski ended 2-9-1 and was in goal for both defeats against Manhattanville.
Faceoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Saturday evening and all fans that can't make it to Playland can watch the game live on GoValiants.TV, with live stats available on GoValiants.com.
