Box Score STAMFORD, Conn. – Senior
Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Saskatchewan/Sait Polytechnic (ACAC)) scored twice and sophomore Michelle Meggiolaro scored the go-ahead goal as the Manhattanville women's ice hockey team defeated the Nichols Bison by the score of 3-1 on Friday evening from the Terry Conners Rink.
The game started off as both teams came out of the gate sluggish in their first meeting of back-to-back contests, but it was Nichols who controlled the majority of play through the first 20 minutes of action. Megan Gerein got the Bison on the board first after a giveaway at the blueline, Gerein then stepped into the offensive zone and sniped a shot that was able to beat Manhattanville goalkeeper
Mary Evans (Ferndale, Mich./Honeybaked (TOEHL)) for the 1-0 lead.
As play resumed through the latter stages of the opening period, the Valiants continued to struggle to possess the puck and gave Nichols multiple opportunities on giveaways in both the defensive and neutral zones. The giveaways resulted in four more Bison shots for a first period total of six, Manhattanville mustered 14 shots in the period but were unable to convert on any.
In the second period, both teams continued to struggle but Manhattanville was able to take 12 shots through the first 10 minutes of the period to Nichols' seven, again with both teams unable to find the back of the net. As play continued into the period's 13th minute, the clock at the Terry Conners Rink froze with 6:56 remaining as a long shift continued with no stoppages as the referee crew attempted to keep time on the ice.
After determining there was approximately one minute left in the period, the clock began functioning once again as play wound down in the second period. Play continued until there was 23 seconds left on the clock, when at that time Taylor was able to knot the game up at one off of a pass from longtime linemate
Katie Little (Victoria, British Columbia/Team British Columbia). The final seconds ticked off the clock as scheduled and the two sides skated into the second intermission tied at one apiece.
The third period saw Manhattanville put their offense into a higher gear as the Valiants were able to notch eight shots of the period. On the eighth shot, Meggiolaro was able to put Manhattanville up by a 2-1 score with classmates
Alla Traun (Edina, Minn./Minnesota Thoroughbreds (JWHL)) and
Rachael Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Sound Shore Warriors (MAWHL)) grabbing assists on the go-ahead goal.
The Valiants continued to dominate play in the third, when three minutes and three shots later it was Taylor again to score on the backhand after the initial shot taken from senior
Erin Sidjak (Delta, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers (JWHL)) was saved. The loose puck was picked up by Taylor, who backhanded it over goalkeeper Francesca Palazzo, who was down after making the initial save on Sidjak's shot, Little also picked up an assist on the play for her second of the game and seventh on the season.
Overall as a team the Valiants finished with 41 shots, while Nichols finished the game with 16. Both teams went 0-for-2 on their respective power play chances, while both sides registered a pair of shots each while on the man-advantage.
Manhattanville outshot Nichols by an 11-5 total through the remainder of the contest as the Valiants completed the comeback victory.
Earning the win to move back to .500 on the season was Evans (5-5-1) after making 15 saves on the evening. Paiazzo (0-2-0) took the loss despite making 38 stops on the night.
The Valiants will look to keep its unbeaten streak alive against Nichols as the Valiants have yet to fall to the Bison all-time in nine attempts. The teams will meet once more tomorrow evening at 7:40 p.m. from Harrisville, R.I.; coverage of the game will be available courtesy of the Nichols sports information department by following the links on GoValiants.com.
