Box Score STAMFORD, Conn. – Trailing 3-1 after the second period, the Manhattanville women's hockey team notched two goals less than a minute apart in the third period to earn a hard-fought 3-3 (OT) tie against Holy Cross on Friday night at Terry Conners Rink. 

As with most ECAC East Conference games, this game was a real battle and Manhattanville (6-8-2, 4-2-1 ECAC East) showed some serious fight, which culminated with the game-tying goal off the stick of senior defenseman Caitlyn Beauvais (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Pacific Steelers (JWHL)) with 12:24 remaining in the third.

Heading into this game the Valiants were 0-8-0 on the season when trailing after two periods, but you could not tell that by the team's effort in the third period on Friday night. Grinding through numerous body-checks and a good amount of missed calls by the referees, Manhattanville fought their way back. 

The comeback began on the power play with 13:20 remaining as freshman Michaela Murdock (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y./Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars), settling a pass at her skates, threw the puck towards the net which junior forward Sydney Asselstine (Hartington, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats (PWHL)) tipped past Holy Cross netminder Alex Stevenson to make the game 3-2.  Just 54 seconds later, Beauvais buried the rebound of an Asselstine shot to tie the game up at three.

Manhattanville dominated the third period against Holy Cross (9-5-1, 4-2-1 ECAC East), posting an 18-5 edge in shots and scoring the only two goals of the frame. The Valiants could not find the net a third time, however, and despite a feverish overtime period, the game ended in a 3-3 tie.  

In what started as a hard-fought battle, the small mistakes proved to be costly for the Valiants early on.  Just about six minutes into the first period, Holy Cross senior defender Devon Ball dumped the puck into the Valiants' zone and gave chase behind the net. She was able to cause some pressure and created a turnover, and she fired up to the point where freshman Erin Hall gathered and rifled the puck past freshman Dana DeMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y. /Massapequa ) for the score. 

Heading into the second period down 1-0, the Valiants were unable to get their feet settled as just 32 seconds into the period Nicole Giannino, the leading scorer for the Crusaders, put home a rebound to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead.

Freshman Michaela Murdock (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y./Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars), who scored her first collegiate goal last time out against the Bantams, played an outstanding game and her hustle on the forecheck resulted in the Valiants' first goal at 11:07 of the middle period. The forward created confusion in front of the net as Stevenson, feeling the pressure, misplayed the puck and junior defender Trenah Stauffer (Salmon, Idaho/Colorado Select (JWHL)) buried the puck into the open net to cut the deficit in half.

As the teams appeared to be heading to a 2-1 intermission, a turnover deep in the Valiants' zone with 10 seconds remaining resulted in Holy Cross' Rachel Miller lifting the puck high short-side on DeMartino to give the Crusaders a 3-1 lead heading into the third, where Manhattanville would mount its comeback.

Manhattanville will need to rest up tonight with another key ECAC East Conference game tomorrow against the Seahawks of Salve Regina, set to begin at 4 p.m. at Terry Conners Rink.