RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's hockey team closed out their opening weekend series on Saturday afternoon, falling 1–7 to a strong Nazareth squad at the Playland Ice Casino. The Valiants move to 0-4-0 (0-2-0 UCHC) on the young season, while the Golden Flyers improve to 6-0-0 (2-0-0 UCHC) with the conference sweep.
Nazareth opened the scoring early in the first period, striking just over five minutes in to take the initial lead. Manhattanville worked quickly to steady the pace. Despite the push, the Golden Flyers extended the advantage to 2–0 at 7:52, taking the margin into the first intermission.
After another early goal from the Golden Flyers at 6:57 in the second, Manhattanville responded with their strongest stretch of the afternoon midway through the period. After sustained offensive pressure, the Valiants broke through at 10:11 when Emilija Tučiūtė connected to set up Claire Hazard (Barnstable, Mass./Worcester Academy), who buried her first of the season to cut the deficit to 3–1. The momentum pushed the Valiants into six scoring chances, but Nazareth countered with a pair of goals at 18:52 and 19:39 to head into the final period with a 5–1 lead.
The Golden Flyers added two more in the third, widening the score despite continued Valiant defensive efforts. Manhattanville created several late shots, highlighted by Danika Aubin (Guy, Alberta, Canada/Northern Alberta Xtreme (CSSHL)), Harper Weisbeck (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland), and Erin Flaherty (Rockland, Mass./Canterbury School), but were unable to convert.
Goaltender Olivia Cimorelli (West Deptford, N.J./The Hill School / Ironbound Elite) faced significant traffic throughout the contest and finished with 40 saves, anchoring a defensive group that blocked 13 Nazareth shot attempts. Offensively, Katherine Stahl (Middletown, R.I./Middletown), Taylor Willoughby (Camrose, Alberta, Canada/Northern Alberta Extreme) led the Valiants with 3 shot attempts, closely followed by Flaherty and Tučiūtė with two shots. Manhattanville earned success in the face off circle through Jada Mackinnon (Barrington, Nova Scotia, Canada/King's Edgehill School), Ali Joly (Pickering, Ontario, Canada/Dunbarton / Caledon Coyotes), Abby Kauffman (Hershey, Pa./Hershey / New Jersey Colonials), Catrina Chinetti (Hyde Park, Mass./Boston Latin Academy / East Coast Wizards), Kayla Leonard (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield High School), Lilee Dougherty, and Tučiūtė.
Up Next:
Manhattanville returns to action next Friday November 21st at 4 PM as they continue UCHC play on the road against Chatham University.
