RYE, N.Y. – A huge second period by the Manhattanville College women’s ice hockey team lifted the Valiants past the University of Southern Maine 6-2 in the quarterfinal round of the New England Hockey Conference tournament Saturday afternoon inside Playland Ice Casino.
Manhattanville struck four times in the middle period to push them into the semifinals next weekend. Freshman defender Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride) scored twice for Manahttanville, the first multi-goal game of her career. Juniors Maeve O’Brien (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy), Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./The Kent School) and Kristi Peters (Newport Beach, Calif./Anaheim Lady Ducks) found the back of the net once and sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) added to her team-leading goal total with her 17th tally of the season. Pellowitz finished with a career-high four points as she added two assists on the day as well. In goal, sophomore Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) stopped 21 shots to earn the win and Courtney Davis made 30 saves in the loss for the Huskies.
Mensi put Manhattanville on top just under three minutes into the contest when she tipped in a loose puck, but the Huskies responded with two goals before the first intermission to go on top 2-1. The Valiants then did all their damage in the middle stanza, finding the back of the net four times during the period to take a commanding lead.
Stys found the back of the net first in the second period, tying the score when she deflected in a shot off the back wall from senior Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects). Coming into the game Manhattanville had scored less than 90 seconds apart 11 times on the season, and the story was the same once again in this one. Just 60 seconds later, O’Brien fired a slapshot from the right wing that deflected off the skate of a Huskie defender and into the back of the net for her third goal of the season. It took 64 seconds for the Valiants to find the back of the net again when Pellowitz scored her first of the afternoon with a blast from the point to make it 4-2 Manhattanville. The freshman struck again five minutes later when she fired a wrist shot in the top left corner to make it a three-goal lead heading into the third period.
The Valiants continued to shut out the Huskies in the final period, and Peters scored her fifth goal of the season to cap off the victory as the Valiants took down Southern Maine 6-2 in the quarterfinal round.
Manhattanville will now take on UMass-Boston for the seventh consecutive year in the postseason on Friday when the teams travel to Vermont at host site Norwich University. A full preview of the Valiants semifinal matchup can be found on GoValiants.com early next week.
