RYE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College women’s hockey team dropped a 4-2 decision against D-II school Saint Anselm Wednesday afternoon at Playland Ice Casino.
Seniors Melissa Stys (Pequannock, N.J./The Kent School) and Maeve O’Brien (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Fury) scored their second and fourth goals of the season, respectively, for Manhattanville (5-5-1).
After Saint Anselm (12-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Kaitlyn Spillane and Katy Meehan, Stys beat Hawks’ goalie Maddie Scavotto on a Manhattanville power play to trim the deficit to one; Stys’ score was only the second 1st period goal allowed by Saint Anselm this season; the Hawks entered the game having conceded just eight goals on the season while posting seven shutouts.
The two teams battled to a scoreless second period, despite a 12-6 shot advantage for Manhattanville, three shots coming from the stick of sophomore Janet Xu (Edmonton, Alta./Ontario Hockey Academy), and two shots apiece from O’Brien, senior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy), junior Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./Northwood School), and senior Karly Kapur (Sparta, N.J./N.J. Colonials).
After Spillane added her second of the game early in the third period, O’Brien answered back with a slap shot from just inside the blue line to pull the Valiants back within one. However, the Valiants were able to muster just one additional shot after O’Brien’s score, and Kaley Campbell added an insurance goal with less than three minutes to play for the Hawks. Junior Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) finished with 27 saves for Manhattanville; Scavotto made 20 saves for Saint Anselm.
The team finishes its three game home-stand this Friday and Saturday against the Chatham Cougars. Puck drop Friday is slated for 7:00 pm, with Saturday’s game scheduled to start at 3 pm.
