Box Score Boxscore
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - The Manhattanville women's hockey team fell on the road on Friday evening by the score of 3-2 to the Salve Regina Seahawks at the St. George's School Ice Rink. The Valiants got a pair of second period power play goals, but it wasn't enough as the Seahawks came away with the win.
In the opening period the Valiants and Seahawks played an evenly matched game through the first 15 minutes of the period. The best scoring chance came from the Seahawks who had a breakaway chance that was poked away by junior goalkeeper Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Quebec/Dawson College) who timed the poke check perfectly to negate the scoring chance.
With just over a minute remaining in the period the deadlock was broken as Salve Regina hit the back of the net to take the 1-0 lead with 1:13 to go. Manhattanville played through the final seconds of the period but took a penalty after the horn had sounded, forcing the Valiants to kill a full two-minute penalty on the other side of the intermission.
During the second period the Valiants killed off the infraction while yielding just two shots. Minutes later Manhattanville had 4:20 seconds of continuous power play time including a pair of brief 5-on-3 advantages but were not able to convert on any of their 10 shots during the extra-skater chance. After killing off the lengthy disadvantage the Seahawks got momentum back on their side and when Manhattanville took a penalty less than two minutes later, the Seahawks capitalized.
Just 31 seconds into the power play Seahawk forward Sarah Markey picked the glove side of Cote's cage and gave Salve Regina a 2-0 lead at 11:45 into the second period. Forty seconds later the Seahawks gave Manhattanville a chance to get back into the game by taking a penalty of their own to put the Valiants back on the power play.
Junior Lauren Nutkevitch (Montreal, Quebec/Dawson College) was very involved on the power play winding up a shot that bounced off the boards behind the net to classmate Mary Rose Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Connecticut Stars (MFYHL)) who took another shot that was stoned. The puck was sent back to the top of the zone to Nutkevitch who sent it to the left wing for senior Hannah Muskego (Neilburg, Saskatchewan/PWM Steelers (AMMFHL)) whose shot was also saved. The rebound was left in front of the crease for sophomore Haleigh Hutchinson (Allen Park, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) to backhand home as the Valiants cut the lead in half.
The Valiants won the ensuing faceoff and brought the puck back into the offensive zone and the Valiants used crisp passing from junior Sonia Occhionero (Montreal, Quebec/Kent School (Conn.)) to Hutchinson and then to Nutkevitch who sent the shot past Seahawk goalie Rebecca Simmons to tie the game at two apiece.
The Valiants had another pair of power play chances in the second period but were unable to capitalize, the second chance carried over into the third period with the score tied at two. In the second stanza, Manhattanville outshot their hosts by a 16-6 margin.
In the third period Manhattanville didn't get any shots off in the 14 seconds of power play time to start the period as both sides struggled to find any consistent offense during the opening stages of the third period. The Valiants gave the Seahawks a big opportunity to score when taking a pair of penalties just 24 seconds apart to give Salve Regina a 5-on-3 chance.
The Valiant penalty kill unit held strong as they killed off the infractions, holding their hosts to just one shot on the chance. However, over a minute later the Seahawks took a 3-2 lead with 6:21 to go in regulation. With less than two minutes to go in the game the Valiants took yet another penalty, already down a skater the Valiants pulled Cote to even the skaters at five apiece but Manhattanville couldn't tie the game and fell on the road by the score of 3-2.
Final game stats included Manhattanville outshooting Salve Regina by a 29-23 margin. While in goal Cote made 20 saves, while allowing the three goals for the loss. On the opposite end of the ice Simmons finished the game with 27 saves as she earned the victory while allowing the two Valiant tallies in the second period.
Manhattanville (11-8-3, 9-4-2 ECAC East) will look to rebound against Holy Cross tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in Worcester, Mass. Salve Regina (10-8-4, 6-6-3 ECAC East) played their final regular-season home game of the season and will be on the road for their final three games, beginning tomorrow at 7:40 when they take on Nichols.
