NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Despite making it to the conference championship for the first time in three seasons, Manhattanville saw its season come to an end Saturday as they were unable to get by top seed and fourth-ranked Norwich University in the New England Hockey Conference championship by a 5-0 final inside Kreitzberg Arena.
Despite the loss, Manhattanville had two players named to the All-Tournament team with sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) and freshman Zoey Pellowitz (Arlington, Va./Washington Pride) earning the recognition from the conference after combining for seven goals and two assists for nine points over three games.
Special teams played a big part of Saturday’s championship game, as Manhattanville went 0-3 on the power play while the Cadets converted 2-of-4 chances on the man advantage. Manhattanville struggled against the smothering Cadet defense, registering just 14 shots on goal to 32 from Norwich. Junior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy) led the offensive attack for the Crimson and Black with three shots on goal and senior Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects) and Pellowitz each recorded two shots for the Valiants. Sophomore goaltender Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) had a busy day between the pipes, stopping 27 shots as the Cadets put the pressure on in the offensive end all afternoon. Laurie King stopped all 14 Valiant shots on the afternoon to earn her seventh shutout of the year.
It was a bit of chess match in the opening five minutes, as both squads tried feeling each other out without many offensive opportunities for either side. The Cadets began to pick the pressure up though, and found the back of the net for the game’s first goal coming off the stick of Kim Tiberi for her 12th goal of the season. Despite being outshot 6-1 at the midway point of the period, Manhattanville created a few offensive chances late but King kept them scoreless in the opening stanza and the Valiants headed into the locker room for the first time trailing by one.
Norwich continued to have the Valiants number early in the second, limiting the Valiant offensive chances and making life difficult in the defensive end. Towards the midway point of the stanza, Manhattanville again created several offensive opportunities and came within inches of tying the contest on the power play but junior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy)’s shot fluttered just over the crossbar as the Valiants continued to trail 1-0. Pijaca made several huge saves in the period for Manhattanville, including a great kick save moving from right to left on a two-on-one chance for the Cadets to keep it 1-0. The continued pressure from Norwich paid off moments later however when Sophie McGovern’s tenth tally of the season gave the top seeded Cadets a 2-0 lead that they would take into the final intermission.
Manhattanville had a rough start in the third, taking three penalties in the first 7:19 of the period and the high powered Cadets took full advantage, making it 3-0 on the man advantage with 12:04 to play, and capitalized on a loose puck in front of the net just moments later to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the final ten minutes. Norwich added one more on the power play to put the game out of reach for good and captured the 2017 NEHC Championship with a 5-0 win over Manhattanville.
The Cadets win gives them their fifth conference title in six seasons. Manhattanville finishes the season with a 17-10-2 record, gathering the most wins since the 2012-13 season and also their first appearance in the conference finals for the first time since the same season.
