RYE, N.Y. - Despite a dominating performance on the ice, the Manhattanville College women's ice hockey team suffered a tough loss 3-2 to New England Hockey Conference rival UMass-Boston Friday evening at Playland Ice Casino.
It was their first game on the home ice since taking on Stevenson on December 3, and Manhattanville showed no signs of slowing down after a 10-0 win over Lebanon Valley earlier this week, outshooting the Beacons 42-18 on the night, but were able to find the back of the net just twice on the night. Junior netminder Rachel Myette was outstanding for the Beacons, making 40 saves including several in the final minutes of action as the Valiants looked to have several great opportunities to level the score.
Sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) continued her outstanding offensive season, scoring her team-best ninth and tenth goals in the loss, netting a goal in each of the first two periods. Freshman defender Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride) led the way in shots for the Valiants, firing seven on target, while junior Jennifer Machin (Brunswick, Maine/North Yarmouth Academy) and Mensi had six apiece for Manhattanville.
After recording her second career shutout against Lebanon Valley, senior goaltender Olivia Drew (York, Maine/Portland Jr. Pirates) had a tough outing tonight, allowing three goals in the first 12 minutes on a few unlucky bounces. Sophomore Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) made 13 saves in relief to shutout the Beacons the rest of the way.
UMass-Boston got the scoring started early on, with Edy Moritz's sixth goal of the season just over two minutes into the game. They continued to roll early on with a goal from Kristen Embrey and capped off the run with a goal from Emily Harris with just over eight minutes remaining in the opening period.
From there it was all Valiants the rest of the way as the crimson and black outshot the Beacons 28-11 over the final two periods. Mensi cut the deficit to two with a nifty deke past a defender in the slot on the power play, beating Myette top shelf to make it 3-1 late in the first period. She scored another fine goal when she took a two-line pass from junior Maeve O'Brien (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) and beat a defender one-on-one and then beat Myette glove side to make it a one-goal game.
Despite outshooting the Beacons 18-3 in the final stanza, Myette stood tall and made some outstanding saves to keep the Valiants out of reach. Manhattanville's best opportunity came shorthanded when Myette came out of her net to play a clear from the Valiant penalty kill unit, when junior Cassie Kent (Lake Placid, NY/Northwood) stole the puck off of her stick and appeared to have a wide open net late in the third, but Arielle Gallucci made a diving stick stop from behind the red line to keep the empty net attempt out and help UMass-Boston hold on for two points in the conference standings.
The two rivals now find themselves tied in the New England Hockey Conference standings, both at 5-2 in conference play with 10 points apiece. Manhattanville falls to 7-5 overall on the year while UMass-Boston improves to 10-4 overall for the season. The Valiants will look to find their sixth conference win tomorrow night when they travel to Rhode Island to take on Nichols College, with puck drop scheduled for 3:40 pm.
