HERSHEY, Pa. - The Manhattanville College women's ice hockey team set a new program record for most short-handed goals in a game in a dominating performance over Lebanon Valley College Wednesday evening at Hersheypark Arena.
In their first game in over a month, the Valiants showed no sign of rust as they outperformed the Flying Dutchmen the entire contest, scoring 10 goals and outshooting Lebanon Valley 74-6 for the evening.
It took just 9:56 of action for Manhattanville to rewrite the record books Wednesday, scoring three consecutive short-handed goals in less than five minutes, edging out the previous mark of two done six times previously.
Nine different skaters scored for Manhattanville, using a true team-effort to down the Dutchmen in a non-conference tune-up before a New England Hockey Conference weekend of action. Freshman Brayden James (Denton, Texas/Dallas Stars Elite) put the Valiants up early on, scoring her second goal of the season less than three minutes after the initial puck drop. Junior Jennifer Machin (Brunswick, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) added to the total with the first short-handed goal for her second tally of the season as well with 14:54 to play in the opening stanza. Four minutes later, junior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy) notched the second short-handed goal of the night to make it a 3-0 advantage for the Crimson and Black. While killing off the same infraction, sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) scored her team-leading eighth goal of the year to put the team into the record books, marking the third short-handed goal of the period, making it a 4-0 contest. Rounding out the scoring for the first 20 minutes of action was senior Lindsay Diot (Bethel, Conn./Boston Shamrocks), making it a five-goal game with her second tally of the year.
The Valiants had the clear advantage on the scoreboard, but held a significant advantage in the shot column as well, outshooting the Dutchmen 24-4 in the opening period of play.
Freshman Ashley Lougheed (Vancouver, Canada/Pacific Steelers) scored the only goal of the second period, putting home her third goal of the year at the 15:33 mark of the frame. The Valiants continued their domination, peppering the goal with another 29 shots, giving them a 53-4 advantage through two periods.
Manhattanville continued to pull away in the final frame, scoring four goals in the third period for their ten goal total. Sinning netted her second tally of the contest to kick off the scoring in the frame. Sophomore Kat Reilly (Holbrook, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks (JWHL)) got in on the scoring with her fifth of the season midway through the period, with junior Kristi Peters (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) adding the ninth goal 33 seconds later for her second of the year. Freshman Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride) capped off the scoring in the contest with just under two minutes remaining for her second goal of the year.
Continuing their smothering play in the final frame, Manhattanville continued to control the tempo, holding a 74-6 advantage in shots for the contest. Senior Olivia Drew (York, Maine/Portland Jr. Pirates) needed just those six saves to earn her second shutout victory of her career.
With the win, Manhattanville moves to 7-4 on the year, snapping a three-game skid to end the 2016 calendar year. The team will look to keep the momentum rolling when they host NEHC rival UMass-Boston Friday evening at Playland Ice Casino before heading back on the road for another conference matchup at Nichols Saturday afternoon.
