RYE, N.Y. – Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) made 44 saves while Gabrielle Cox (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane High School) scored a pair and netted the shootout winner as the Manhattanville College women's hockey team earned the extra point on Friday night against No. 9 ranked Utica. The shootout win goes in the books as a 3-3 tie, moving the Valiants' overall record to 2-2-1 on the year both overall and in the UCHC.

With 65 minutes not enough to determine a winner, Gerardi denied Molly Pedone and Carolyn Whitney in the opening two rounds of the skills competition. Cox dragged the puck across the crease in her attempt in the second round to get Angela Hathorne leaning towards the left pipe before sneaking it in to put the Valiants ahead. From there, Gerardi turned away Erica Sloan's attempt to put an end to the night as the Valiants poured onto the ice to celebrate the shootout win.

In addition to shutting down each of the three shootout efforts, Gerardi had a stellar night in the Manhattanville crease with a season-high 44 saves. The graduate netminder made double-digit stops in each of the three regulation periods while turning away all seven of the shots she faced in overtime.

The Valiants came out strong against the nationally-ranked Pioneers, scoring on their first shot of the night just 2:18 into the contest. Harper Weisbeck (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland) scored the goal by way of Katherine Stahl (Middletown, R.I./Middletown) and Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy). While the high-powered Utica offense outshot the Valiants 12-4 in the first, Manhattanville continued to make the most of their opportunities as they would double the lead at the 10:47 mark. A breakout pass by Grace Genest (Wake Forest, N.C./The Gunnery (Conn.)) off the boards sent Cox to the races on a breakaway opportunity, burying a shot past Hawthorne for her fifth of the year.

The Pioneers would break through before the period would end as Hailey Modlin scored from Whitney at 17:09 to cut the Valiant advantage back down to one heading into intermission.

Utica carried the momentum into the second as Sloan beat Gerardi 1:21 into the period from Jordan Kowalski to even the game up at 2-2. The game remained tied for the next three and a half minutes before Cox struck again. Ciara Dauer (Winchester, MA/Worcester Academy) collected a loose puck at center ice and banked the puck to Cox in the neutral zone who carried it in and fired from just atop the circles to regain the lead for Manhattanville.

Modlin would net her second of the game for the Pioneers at 7:44 in the third from Whitney and Maggie Rylott, the only tally of the third period.

The Valiants were limited to one shot in the five minute three-on-three overtime off the stick of Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) that was unable to find the net. On the other side of the ice, Gerardi continued to stand tall against the Pioneers to force the shootout.

Niedermier was once again the team's leader on the draws, winning 14 of her 21 total faceoff attempts.

The Valiants finished 0-for-3 on the power play with one shot while successfully killing off both of their penalties.

Up Next
The teams conclude their weekend series tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.

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