ICE HOCKEY
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Women's Ice Hockey: Manhattanville Defeats Norwich, 4-1
PURCHASE, N.Y. - Manhattanville scored three unanswered goals in the third period to pull away from Norwich and defeat the Cadets, 4-1, in an ECAC East contest Sunday afternoon.
The Valiants, who improve to 19-6-0 (17-3-0 ECAC East), will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, which begins next Saturday. The Cadets, who saw their 12-game unbeaten streak come to an end, fall to 16-8-1 (14-6 1 ECAC East). Norwich will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and the Cadets will host a quarterfinal game on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. Norwich's opponent in that game has not been determined at this time.
The game was knotted at 1-1 after two periods, but Holly Nonis put Manhattanville on top, 2-1, midway through the third period when she scored a short-handed goal at the 8:40 mark. The goal, Nonis' team-leading 18th of the season, was assisted by Alex Blackwell.
Natalie Zitek scored a pair of goals in span of 2:06 to give Manhattanville some breathing room. Zitek's first goal came at the 16:39 mark and was assisted by Alex Findlay and Sarah Fullerton. Zitek's second marker, which was assisted by Monique Rafferty and Jackie Solomito, capped the scoring at the 18:45 mark.
Both teams fired eight shots on goal during the first period, but neither squad was able to find the back of the net and the opening stanza ended with the score deadlocked at 0-0. Each team enjoyed one power play opportunity in the first period, but could not take advantage.
Manhattanville outshot Norwich 12-10 in the second period, and the Valiants' pressure finally paid off at the 15:30 mark when Rafferty scored her 11th goal of the season off assists from Nonis and Blackwell.
The Cadets came back to tie the score at 1-1 late in the second period when Danielle Del Dotto found Julie Fortier for her 15th marker of the year with just 15 seconds to play in the frame.
Any momentum generated by Norwich late in the second period did not carry over to the third as the Valiants outshot the Cadets, 18-7, in the third stanza.
For the game, Manhattanville held a 38-25 edge in shots. Karine Turmel stopped 24 of the 25 shots that she faced to earn the victory between the pipes for the Valiants. Norwich goaltender Cindy Fortin made 34 saves in the loss for the Cadets.
Norwich went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Manhattanville was 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
