WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – In what proved to be an opening day to remember, the Manhattanville College women's hockey team completed a third period comeback en route to an overtime victory over Wilkes University on Saturday, 3-2. The Valiants will start the year with 1-0-0 records both overall and in UCHC play.

The start to Grace Felicio's (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) senior campaign could not have been more ideally scripted as the forward played a pivotal role in the comeback before earning the role of hero in overtime. After earning an assist on both of the team's third period goals, Felicio would waste little time working with the extra skater in OT. After her first shot was blocked by Tilly Wiersdma, Felicio collected the loose puck and fired it in to the back of the net by way of Gabrielle Cox (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane High School) and Grace Genest (Wake Forest, N.C./The Gunnery (Conn.)) to cap off the come-from-behind victory.

The power play winner was only fitting as the Valiants were able to claw back and force overtime on the back of two other goals in the third coming with an extra skater. After beginning the day 0-for-6 on the power play, the Valiants scored three times on four shots in their final three chances to finally capitalize on Wilkes' miscues.

Trailing 2-0 with 7:42 gone in the third, the Valiants would begin their comeback as Lily Zingaro was sent to the box for roughing. While the Colonels would take a pair of shots shorthanded, Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) put a puck on target that was saved and frozen by Audrey Milne. Felicio would win the ensuing faceoff, allowing Manhattanville to run their offense and get the puck to last year's statistical champion in goals per game in Cox, who fired a shot into the net to cut the deficit to one. Genest would earn the secondary assist on the tally.

It would be Felicio and Genest getting the sequence started again on the Valiants' game-tying goal, coming with just over eight minutes left in regulation. Chayce Hyndman was sent off for tripping, prompting another faceoff in the Valiant offensive zone. Felicio won the draw, setting up another tic-tac-toe passing sequence that finished on the stick of Annie Niedermier (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame). The junior captain tied the game up with her first of the season, shifting the momentum in favor of the visiting team that carried into the 42 seconds of overtime.

The Colonels built out their lead with a goal in the second and third. Following more than 36 minutes of scoreless action, Sabrina Kotiarczyk broke the deadlock with a shorthanded goal at 16:35. Amanda Spreadbury then put Wilkes up 2-0 at 6:51 in the third from Abigail Barcless and Kali Dube before the Valiants began their comeback.

Franny Gerardi (Yonkers, N.Y./Selects Academy) secured the win in net to begin her graduate campaign, totalling 36 saves across more than 60 minutes in the crease. She logged 10 or more saves in each period in regulation while not seeing a shot in the short overtime frame.

The Valiants held a 40-27 advantage on the faceoffs, led by 18 wins by Niedermier. Chinetti added 10 victories while Felicio added eight in what was a dominant well-rounded performance.

Manhattanville's penalty kill unit starts the year with a perfect 100% kill rate, holding the Colonels scoreless on their five power plays. Wilkes fired 14 total shots with the extra skater.

Up Next
The Valiants and Colonels will run it back tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

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