ASTON, Pa. – The Manhattanville College women's hockey team continued their winning ways on Saturday afternoon, completing a series sweep of Neumann with a 4-1 victory. Now winners of seven straight, the Valiants have climbed up to third in the UCHC standings with 34 points and a 10-4-2 conference record while moving to 10-9-2 overall.

The Valiants have been dominant over the winning streak, outscoring the opposition 35-6 since Jan. 13 as the team has gotten hot and has been playing some of their best hockey entering the final stretch of the regular season.

Looking to respond to yesterday's 9-3 loss at the hands of the Valiants, Neumann struck early as Meg Landman was able to sneak one past Jewells Austin (Bethlehem, CT/Nonnewaug High School) 74 seconds into the game on the Knights' third shot of the game. Manhattanville shored up play in the defensive zone following the early blow as the Valiants held Neumann off the board for the final 58:46 on the game.

The Valiants tied the game up at the 13:38 mark as Molly Sances (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) continued what was a strong weekend for the rookie. The forward picked up her third point of the series as her third goal of her freshman campaign brought things even. Sances poked the puck loose off the stick of a Neumann defender and skated in all alone against Knight goaltender Ella Sciborki, scoring through the five-hole to tie things up.

Another Valiant building upon a great weekend was Gabrielle Cox (Niverville, NY/Ichabod Crane High School). After putting up five points on four goals and an assist in yesterday's win, the graduate forward was back in the scoring column 17:09 into the period. Going on the power play after a Neumann roughing call, the Valiants set up shop in the offensive zone. Cox and Taylor Willoughby (Camrose, Alberta, Canada/John Maland) held the puck at the blue line, patiently allowing something to develop closer to the net with a series of passes. Willoughby sent a feed cross ice where Cox let a one-timer rip through traffic for her 17^th goal of the year.

Manhattanville carried the 2-1 lead through all of the second period and eight minutes into the third before netting an insurance goal. At the 8:21 mark, Lindsay Reyes (Chino Hills, Calif./SUNY Cortland) found Lulu LePage (Swansea, Mass./Elmira College) at the point, letting a shot rip. The puck bounced off the padding of Sciborski but came out right onto the blade of Virginia Birnie's (Ontario, Canada/Rosethay Netherwood School) stick as the junior knocked it in for her third goal of the season. Birnie now has a point in four straight games and five of the team's last six.

Cox iced the game with an empty netter from Charlotte Stanwood (West Vancouver, B.C./Penticton Secondary) in the closing minute. Cox's weekend draws to a close with seven total points, scoring six goals and collecting an assist across the two games.

Austin earned the win in the crease as she played the first 32:38 of the game. The junior made 11 total saves, stopping 10 pucks in the first period. Paz Hassan-Contreras (Lansing, Mich./Okemos) took over for the final 27:22, stopping all 11 shots she faced.

Grace Felicio (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional) went 19-2 on the faceoffs for Manhattanville as the Valiants held a 37-24 draw advantage.

The Valiant power play unit went 1-for-3 in the game, logging seven shots with the advantage. Defensively, the penalty kill for Manhattanville was stellar, holding Neuman 0-for-6 with six shots allowed.

Up Next
Manhattanville heads home for their final series of the regular season at Playland next weekend to host Stevenson. Game one is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.

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