Panthers leave it late to snatch win

Author: Tom McCann

The scene was set for an Elmira fairytale when the players took to the ice for the final period of the NCAA Championship Game. Leading 2-1, on their home ice, in front of their own fans, an unprecedented 13 seniors were 20 minutes of hockey away from ending their college careers as National Champions. Then the Panthers spoiled the party.

However, before anyone could think about the Championship Game, the Middlebury Panthers had to overcome Gustavus Adolphus in the semifinal, a team that they had beaten 4-3 after overtime earlier in the campaign. As it turned out, the winner would earn a spot in the final the next day against Elmira, narrow victors over Plattsburgh in the other semifinal.

The Panthers had earned the right to play at Elmira in the Final Four by virtue of knocking off Manhattanville in the NCAA quarterfinal, courtesy of an overtime goal by Emily McNamara '07. After an uncharacteristically quiet quarterfinal, Emily Quizon '06 demonstrated she was back to her sensational best, opening the scoring at the 13:28 mark of the first period. However, Gustavus found a way back into the game less than two minutes later, squaring things up at 1-1 as the first period ended.

Sophomore Shannon Tarrant commented that in the locker room before the second period, "We figured out where we were and the importance of the situation. We figured out what we needed to do to get it done."

The second period, however, would be all Middlebury. Quizon put the Panthers ahead again with her second goal of the game less than five minutes after the restart, while it took Abby Kurtz-Phelan '07 less than two minutes to double the advantage, continuing her fine post-season form.

At 3-1, Gustavus desperately needed to score the next goal, but could not find a way through the Panther backline. The game was effectively ended as a contest when Gloria Velez '06 and Lorna Gifis '05 scored within 28 seconds of one another, giving the Panthers a 5-1 advantage at end of the second period.

To start the third period, Katie Kogut '06 made a string of top class saves as Middlebury weathered a two-minute 5-on-3 power play. Taking full advantage of Gustavus' inability to score a second goal, the Panthers extended their lead to 6-1 when Ellen Sargent '07 put the puck past Gustavus' goaltender, Kara Meyer. Kogut was finally beaten for a second time when Gustavus made the most of a power play opportunity at the 9:18 mark of the third period and then netted again when the coach pulled Meyer to give Gustavus an extra attacker.

From the next face-off though, Gifis made no mistake with an open net, pushing the Panther advantage back out to 7-3 with just seconds remaining. Despite losing to the Panthers, Gustavus tallied an NCAA record with 25 shots on goal in the final period, resulting in an NCAA record for Kogut: 23 saves in the period, from a total of 33 on the night.

With the semifinal in the books, it was on to a showdown with hosts Elmira. Almost exactly a month earlier the Panthers had lost a 3-2 decision at Williams, a neutral venue. This time it was Middlebury vs. Elmira at Elmira with the National Championship on the line.

The home fans were sent into a frenzy when Charissa Grant broke the deadlock in favor of the hosts, scoring on a wraparound just over seven minutes in. Despite outshooting Elmira 10-5 in the period, Middlebury could not find a way past Edith Racine in the Elmira goal, trailing 0-1 after the first period.

Several times throughout the season, Middlebury had been undone by conceding goals early in a period, yet the opposite was true when it mattered most. Fifty-two seconds after the restart, McNamara somehow found a way to get the puck into the net after a scramble in front of the net, pulling Middlebury level.

However, the Panthers could not capitalize on the momentum, and when NCAA Division III Player of the Year, Laura Hurd broke free for Elmira, Kogut was powerless to stop her backhanded shot from putting the hosts ahead once more. The second period ended 2-1 to Elmira, having killed off a couple of Panther power play chances towards the end of the period.

Tarrant commented, "Going into the third period our locker room had so much energy and no one was worried about losing. We knew what we had to do."

And so the scene was set. Twenty minutes to play. The Elmira women's hockey team were to lose 13 seniors from the roster that had carried them to the number one ranking entering the playoffs, and guaranteed them the right to host the Big Dance. It was their time, and the Middlebury Panthers were supposed to be a footnote in this illustrious chapter of Elmira hockey history. Evidently, the Middlebury Panthers hadn't read the script, and promptly set about dousing water on the Elmira fire.

Quizon got Middlebury back into the game with another goal within the first minute after the restart, threading the needle to find the back of the net. However, unlike the second period story, Middlebury would not be held at bay for the rest of the period. With just over six minutes played, Velez fired a shot past Racine after picking the puck up from a fortunate deflection and Middlebury had their first lead of the night. Still reeling from the two-goal turnaround, Elmira was left shell-shocked when Quizon lashed a shot inside Racine's left post, giving the Panthers a 4-2 lead.

Desperate to regroup, Elmira called a timeout. The timeout succeeded in slowing down the Panther's momentum but it took until the 14:59 mark before Kogut was beaten for a third time, pegging the Panthers back to 4-3.

The Panthers expected a five-minute blitz from Elmira, but were handed a gift when Elmira were called for a penalty with three and a half minutes remaining. Middlebury did not capitalize on the power play, and Elmira had 90 seconds to grab the equalizer.

The Panther defense stood firm in the face of an onslaught, but with 25 seconds remaining Kogut slipped after once again denying an Elmira assault. This time, the team watched in horror as the puck found its way to one of the most dangerous sticks in the country - that of Hurd. With an open goal to hit, Hurd missed the target from the left circle and the Panthers could skate the puck out of their zone. As time expired the Panthers rushed the ice, celebrating a come from behind win that typified the never say die spirit that the team was founded upon.

Tarrant said, "We were a team and we played for each other. I knew we would come through in the end." She went to on say that in the locker room after the game "It was just chaos. It was so much fun and there was so much energy. Everyone was so excited about having won and coming back to Middlebury to celebrate."

McNamara also commented, "It was great that we got to play in front of so many people. There was some heckling and we used that to our benefit. We rode the energy." She continued, "Also, we were standing at the edge of the rink waiting to come on to start the third period when they played our team song. We thought it was a sign and we got out there and got it done."

The victory marked the first time that a team had won the National Championship on the road and just the third time any team had won a tournament game away from home. Middlebury ended the season with a record of 26-3-1, NESCAC Champions and what's more important, National Champions. Again.