RYE, N.Y. - Despite coming from behind in the third period, a late goal by Trinity forced overtime and an eventual 2-2 tie between the two squads in non-conference action Tuesday evening at Playland Ice Casino.
Junior Karly Kapur (Sparta, N.J./N.J. Colonials) and freshman Janet Xu (Edmonton, Alberta/Ontario Hockey Academy) each tallied a goal for the Valiants in the tie. Juniors Maeve O'Brien (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy), Cassie Kent (Lake Placid, NY/Northwood), Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy), and sophomore Morgan Wilm (West Chester, Pa./Millbrook Mustangs) all picked up an assist in the game as well. O'Brien also led the way for the Valiants with four shots on goal in the contest. Between the pipes, sophomore Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) compiled 24 saves on the evening, and for the Bantams Kai-Lilly Karpman stopped 21 shots.
It was a quiet start to the night for both teams, as there was just one shot on goal in the opening five minutes of action. The Bantams jumped on the board first at the midway point of the opening stanza when Kayla O'Connor elevated a loose puck past Pijaca for the first goal of the evening. Manhattanville had a few opportunities on the power play late in the period, but were unable to get anything past Karpman and headed into the first intermission trailing by a goal.
After a scoreless second period, the final stanza proved to be much more exciting. Just 1:41 into the final period, Manhattanville got on the board when Kapur buried a centering pass from Sinning for her fourth goal of the year, tying the score 1-1. Just over two minutes later, the crimson and black struck again when Xu took a puck into the slot and beat Karpman on the glove side for the second goal of her career, giving the home squad a one-goal edge with 15 minutes remaining. The Valiant defense continued to play well, shutting down the Bantams most of the way, but Trinity was able to push a loose puck over the goal line with 59 seconds to play and an extra attacker on the ice to level the scoring and force an overtime period.
In the extra period, Manhattanville dominated the first half, attempting seven shots before the Bantams were able to get the puck into the offensive end of the ice. The Trinity defense did an outstanding job however, blocking three of those seven shots, with none finding the target. After a couple attempts by the Bantams in the opposite direction, the final horn sounded with the score still tied 2-2 as the teams were forced to settle for a tie in the contest.
Manhattanville moves to 8-5-1 on the season with the tie, while Trinity is now 2-8-2 on the season. The Valiants will look to continue their strong play this weekend when they travel to Salve Regina Friday evening for a New England Hockey Conference showdown beginning at 7:00 pm.
