BIDDEFORD, Maine – It took an overtime goal from junior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy) to survive a two-goal comeback by the Nor’Easters, but the Manhattanville women’s ice hockey team upended the University of New England 4-3 to earn their third New England Hockey Conference win of the season at the Harold Alfond Forum.
Manhattanville (3-1, 3-1 NEHC) outshot the Nor’Easters (1-4-1, 1-2-1 NEHC) 36-16 on the game, but New England used two shorthanded goals within three minutes of game action to force overtime after Manhattanville led 3-1 late in the second period.
New England jumped ahead late in the first period, scoring the game’s first goal off the stick of Emily Corrales. After coming out of the first intermission trailing, Manhattanville pounced on the Nor’Easters midway through the second frame, scoring three goals in a span of 62 seconds to take a two-goal lead.
Sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) got the scoring started with her third goal of the year off of an assist from senior Kayley Romano (Viera, Fla./Boston Shamrocks). 27 seconds later it was classmate Kat Reilly (Holbrook, N.Y./Boston Shamrocks (JWHL)) who found the back of the net, putting one home off of an assist from senior Lindsay Diot (Bethel, Conn./Boston Shamrocks). Keeping the momentum going it was sophomore Morgan Wilm (West Chester, Pa./Millbrook Mustangs) capping off the scoring run with her first goal of the season 35 seconds later to give the Valiants a two-goal cushion with 11:36 to play in the second period.
New England cut the deficit in half with a shorthanded goal by Annie Mullen with 1:44 remaining in the period to make it a 3-2 contest at the second intermission. But it was Abby Kinens putting home another shorthanded goal 61 seconds into the final period to knot up the score 3-3. A scoreless nineteen minutes of action to close out regulation forced overtime and set up the dramatics for the Valiants.
1:04 seconds into the extra stanza, Sinning buried an assist from junior Cassie Kent (Lake Placid, NY/Northwood) to give the Valiants back-to-back conference victories and their best four-game start since the 2010-11 season.
Between the pipes, sophomore goaltender Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) made 13 saves on the day to earn her second victory of the season for Manhattanville.
The Valiants return to Playland Ice Casino on Friday when they host Plymouth State at 7:00 pm. Manhattanville plays host to New England College on Saturday afternoon to round out their six-game stretch of NEHC action to begin the year before a five-game span of non-conference opponents.
