Box Score Boxscore
HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Five different goal scorers hit the back of the net as the Manhattanville women's ice hockey team defeated ECAC East rival Nichols by the score of 5-1 on Friday night in ECAC East Conference play. With the win, Manhattanville defeated Nichols for the seventh straight time against no loses, since Nichols joined the conference in 2008.
Manhattanville struck just 3:30 into the opening frame as junior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Saskatchewan/Sait Polytechnic (ACAC)) banged home the shot after a quick pass from behind the net by classmate Katie Little (Victoria, British Columbia/Team British Columbia). However, just 50 seconds later Nichols evened the game up after hitting the pipe then collecting the rebound and sent the puck past sophomore Mary Evans (Ferndale, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) to tie the game at one.
Moments later Manhattanville got back on top as junior Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Rangers (PWHL)) put the Valiants up for good at 2-1 with 15:11 to go in the period. After each side killed off a penalty, Manhattanville scored once again as this time sophomore Haleigh Hutchinson (Allen Park, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) took a long shot that found the back of the goal after receiving a pass from Little. The Valiants were forced to kill off a pair of penalties to end the period with the second carrying over into the second period.
After killing 1:57 of the total penalty, Nichols took penalty of their own to give the Valiants a power play opportunity. On their advantage, Manhattanville only pulled off one shot that was blocked before reaching the goal. With the sides skating five aside once again, the Valiants took three quick shots with the third finding twine as senior captain Hannah Muskego (Neilburg, Saskatchewan/PWM Steelers (AMMFHL)) took a long slap shot to give Manhattanville a 4-1 edge.
The Valiants were given three more extra skater opportunities through the remainder of the period that saw the Valiants outshoot their hosts by a 15-5 margin over the final 14:12 of the second period. Manhattanville then skated into the second intermission with a comfortable 4-1 lead.
In the third stanza, the Valiants took the first eight shots of the period with the eighth shot lighting the lamp as junior Mary Rose Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Stars (MFYHL)) tallied her third of the season and the capper on a successful night for the team. Manhattanville ended the period by outshooting the Bison by a 4-1 margin for a 20-minute total of 12-1.
In the game Manhattanville outshot Nichols by a 40-15 margin, with the Valiants being led by senior assistant captain Jackie Solomito (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Niagara University (CHA)) who had 10 on the night. Both teams' strong penalty kill units killed off all their player disadvantages with Nichols killing off eight penalties and Manhattanville killing five of their own.
In goal, Evans made 15 saves to earn her fourth win of the season against one loss thus far in 2011-12. For the Bison, Francesca Palazzo made 35 saves while allowing the five Valiant markers and taking the loss to fall to 1-6-1 on the year.
These two sides will meet again tomorrow evening as they conclude their home-and-home series at the Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y. with game coverage available on GoValiants.TV. Manhattanville (6-6-2, 4-2-1 ECAC East) will look to get their overall record back over the .500 plateau for the first time this season, while Nichols (4-9-1, 1-5-1 ECAC East) will look to avoid their tenth loss of the season.
