Box Score Boxscore
RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville women's hockey team scored a goal in each of the three periods, including an empty-netter to seal the game late as the Valiants defeated ECAC East Conference foe New England College on Saturday afternoon by the score of 3-1.
Special teams played a big role in today's game, as all three Valiant goals occurred on the power play, while the only goal they surrendered was on the penalty kill. Senior Jackie Solomito (Sea Cliff, N.Y./Niagara University (CHA)) and juniors Katie Little (Victoria, British Columbia/Team British Columbia), Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Saskatchewan/Sait Polytechnic (ACAC)) and Lynsey Schill (Waterloo, Ontario/Kitchener Rangers (PWHL)) each had two points to lead Manhattanville's scoring attack.
The Valiants went on the power play for the fourth time late in the first period and capitalized as Schill picked up a loose puck in front of the net and sent it home for her eighth goal of the season. Solomito and Taylor picked up the helpers on the tally.
Both teams played an even game at neutral strength, but the Valiants went on the power-play and scored again thanks to Little's 10th goal of the year. Moments later New England took a shot that got passed junior goalkeeper Emy Cote (Saint-Hubert, Quebec/Dawson College) and was trickling towards the goal line, junior defender Erin Sidjak (Delta, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers (JWHL)) came flying through the crease on her stomach and swept the puck out of harm's way for just a moment.
A few seconds after the highlight-reel save from Sidjak, the Pilgrims took another shot that made it past Cote and into the net as Jamie Tabb pulled the visitors to within one. Manhattanville controlled the game from that point onward, as they did not allow their opposition much time in the Valiants' end of the ice.
The third period proved to be yet another dominant frame for the home squad as they outshot New England by a 10-4 margin. With just over two minutes left, the Pilgrims committed another penalty that damaged any chance of a comeback. While on the penalty kill, New England pulled their goalkeeper Kristen Conners in favor of the skater to make it five-on-five but the Valiants added the empty-net insurance goal as Solomito sent the puck from just inside the blueline into the abandoned cage for her first goal of the season.
Final statistics included Cote stopping 20 of 21 shots faced while collecting her fifth win of the season against six loses and a pair of ties. Conners stopped 34 shots, including a game-high 13 in the first period but took the loss after allowing the first two Valiant markers, as her record fell to 3-3-2 with the loss.
The Valiants finished the game 3-for-8 on the power play while collecting a dozen shots on the skater advantage. Meanwhile, New England finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play, attempting just four shots. Total shots in the contest were in favor of Manhattanville by a 37-21 margin.
Manhattanville (11-7-3, 9-3-2 ECAC East) will head on their final regular season road trip of the season when they travel to Salve Regina on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. New England (7-11-2, 5-7-2 ECAC East) will not get as long a break as they will host nationally ranked Middlebury on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
