MARSHFIELD, Mass. – Three Valiants who have helped lead the Manhattanville College women’s ice hockey team to a big turnaround year have been honored by the New England Hockey Conference, being named to the All-Conference team as announced by the conference office Thursday morning.
Sophomore standout Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) led the Valiant honors, being named Second Team All-Conference, while senior Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects) earned Third Team honors and freshman Amanda Sabia (Freehold, N.J./The Gunnery) was named to the All-Rookie team.
These three players have been huge contributors all year for Manhattanville, combining for 48 points on 25 goals and 23 assists. The trio also has three game-winning goals and have contributed 37 of the team’s 48 points in league play.
Mensi made her presence felt on the ice in her first season in the crimson and black this year, finishing the regular season second in the conference in goals with 16, and added seven assists on the year for 23 points. The local product scored her first two Valiant goals in her second appearance against NEHC regular season champion Norwich University. Mensi recorded four multi-goal games and was named conference player of the week and was named to the D3Hockey.com Team of the Week in January after tallying four goals and two assists over three games. She recorded her highest point output of the season in the team’s penultimate regular season game with three assists in a 5-3 win over Salve Regina University. Mensi was one of two Valiants to eclipse the 20-point plateau, and her 16 goals are the most by a Manhattanville player since Katie Little, ’13.
Harris had a breakout season in her final year with the Valiants, totaling 12 points after compiling just 16 points in her first three seasons. She finished the regular season ranking 12th in the conference in defenseman scoring. It took no time for the senior to record her first point of the year, tallying an assist in the team’s season opener against Castleton. Harris recorded two assists in a win over Lebanon Valley College and a tie against Saint Anselm College. Despite scoring just two goals on the year, she made them count as both goals turned out to be game-winners against the University of Southern Maine and Salve Regina.
Sabia also had a major impact on the offensive end for Manhattanville in her rookie campaign. The freshman currently ranks eighth in the conference in first year player scoring with 13 points, ten coming in the team’s final eight regular season contests. Sabia recorded her first career point with an assist against Plymouth State University and scored her first career goal when she found the back of the net twice against Nichols College. She recorded another multi-goal output with two goals in the second matchup against Nichols as well and tallied five multi-point games on the year.
The All-Conference trio and the rest of the Valiants will look to continue their impressive turnaround this weekend when they host Southern Maine in the quarterfinal round of the NEHC tournament at 3:00 pm inside Playland Ice Casino.
