Old Foe Haunts Women's Puck, New Rivals Emerge

Author: Peter Yordan

After running off seven straight games without a loss in January, the Middlebury women's hockey team hit a rough patch of ice last week, surrendering a loss to non-conference rival Manhattanville before defeating Gustavus Adolphus and Trinity and tying lowly Wesleyan. With three games remaining in the regular season, the Panthers will now look to steady themselves and regroup for the final push into the postseason.
Though Middlebury's Feb. 1 game against Manhattanville matched them up against a non-conference opponent, the recent history between the two teams provided more than enough incentive for the Panthers to come out fighting. It was Manhattanville who last year stopped Middlebury's historic seven-year Division III undefeated steak by handing the team an embarrassing 4-1 loss. The team went into the game looking for vengeance, but found themselves unable to crack the stern Valiants' defense in a tense struggle between two of the nation's top teams.
Neither team could muster much of an offensive at the start, as the two combined for only 11 shots on goal in the scoreless first period. Middlebury upped the pressure in the second, piling on 11 shots on goal, but Manhattanville hung on against the Panther onslaught to keep the game knotted at zero going into the second intermission. With the game this tight going into the final 20 minutes, both sides knew one goal could be decisive. Unfortunately, as the clock wound down in the third period, Middlebury paid for its inability to find the net when Manhattanville scored with 12 minutes remaining to take a 1-0 lead. Middlebury fought for an equalizer before time ran out, but not even a final powerplay for the last minute and a half of the period let them find any offense, and the team left the ice with its second loss of the season.
Middlebury worked out its frustration two days later by humiliating Gustavus Adolphus 7-0. The offense that was nonexistent against Manhattanville reappeared to devastating effect right from the drop of the puck. Assistant Captain Angela Kapus '03 scored twice in the opening period, and the Panthers scored four in total -- three on the powerplay -- to take a commanding lead. After taking a breather in the second, the Panthers scored three more times in the final 20 minutes to close out the game, with Kapus, the league leader in points scored, notching another goal to complete her hat trick.
Four days later Middlebury brutalized hapless Trinity for a second consecutive 7-0 victory. Two goal braces by both Erin Neil '03 and Lorna Gifis '05 led the team's offense, and Amber Neil '03 tallied her team-leading 17th goal of the year as the Panthers outshot their underpowered opponents 60-7 in the lopsided affair.
The team, however, could not maintain its momentum against another lightly regarded league rival, Wesleyan. Middlebury had easily defeated Wesleyan 7-0 early in the year, but this time they struggled to a 2-2 tie. The Cardinals drew first blood, beating the Middlebury defense to score 10 minutes into the game on one of their only two shots of the period. Wesleyan scored again in the second period to put the Panthers down 2-0, and going into the second intermission Middlebury found itself with a long way to go to avoid its most embarrassing loss in years.
As Wesleyan, taking stock of the stunning upset brewing, bunkered in to protect its lead with 20 minutes to play, Middlebury came out fighting. Erin Neil scored with 12 minutes remaining to cut the lead in half, but as the clock ticked down the second goal proved elusive. Finally, with only 45 seconds on the clock, Gifis managed to slip the puck by the Cardinals goaltender to save the team and send the game to overtime. The extra five minutes proved uneventful, and Middlebury had to content themselves with a rather lucky tie. With their regular season swiftly coming to a close, the Panthers will need to find some consistency before the postseason.