Women’s Hockey splits games at Amherst; wins first in shutout

The ninth-ranked Middlebury Panthers traveled to fifth-ranked Amherst this past weekend to continue a rivalry that has become one of the best in women’s college hockey. The Panthers won the first game of the weekend doubleheader 3-0 over the Lord Jeffs. Though the Panthers lead the all-time series 20-6-4, it was just their second win of the past 12 games with Amherst. After two scoreless periods the Panthers skated a dominant third period.
They outshot the Lord Jeffs 21-4 over the final 20 minutes, finding the back of the net three times. Senior goaltender Alexi Bloom ’11 made all 27 saves in the game, which saw the Lord Jeffs drop their first home contest after a 17-game unbeaten streak. Middlebury bookends the streak, beating the Jeffs 4-3 at Amherst in the NESCAC playoffs during the ’08 –’09 season and again on Friday. In between the two losses to the Panthers the Lord Jeffs were 14-0-3 at home.
Despite being outshot 23-10 over the first two periods on Friday night, the Panthers kept Amherst off the scoreboard before controlling a decisive third period.
“We felt like true underdogs who had something to prove,” said Bloom. “We were flat-footed through most of the game and were lucky that Amherst was not able to capitalize on many scoring opportunities. The ice looked slanted in the third period. Our offense picked up and Amherst was unable to get the puck out of their zone.”
First-year forward Sara Ugalde ’14 ended the scoreless draw 5:35 into the third period with her team-high fourth goal of the season. She was assisted on the play by Jamie Harisiades ’12 and Grace Waters ’12. Less than seven minutes later fellow first-year Jennifer Krakower ’14 expanded the Middlebury lead to 2-0 and netted her first goal of the season, with Lauren Greer ’13 providing the assist. The win was capped by an empty-net goal from Maggie Woodward ’13 with less than a second left to play, completing the resounding Middlebury win.
The Lord Jeffs bounced back the next day however, winning the second game 2-1 to split the regular season series. Amherst outshot the Panthers 27-16 in the revenge match and took advantage of two power-play opportunities in the second and third periods to edge the Panthers 2-1.
Ashley Salerno ended a scoring drought of more than 100 minutes for the Lord Jeffs when she beat Lexi Bloom ’11 7:48 into the second period on an Amherst power-play. The Panthers responded quickly though, as Greer scored the equalizer later in the period. Julia Ireland ’11 and Madison Styrbicki ’13 recorded assists on the play. The Lord Jeffs proved to be too strong in the third period however, scoring the winning goal in another advantage situation with just under four minutes remaining in the game.
“There were hints of the team from the night before,” said Bloom, “but Amherst was out for revenge and it showed all over the ice. We did not win battles to pucks, and penalties were not being called in our favor.”
“It is difficult playing a team back-to-back,” said head coach Bill Mandigo. “The team that loses the first game plays harder the second game. Amherst came out the first period in both games and really took it to us.  We played better as the games went on, but need to find a way to log 60 minutes of good hockey.”
Though the Panthers undoubtedly wished to return home unbeaten, their play this weekend demonstrates the potential that this team has and validates their early season success.
“We know who we are, what our roles are, and what we are capable of,” said Bloom. “This weekend I think we really proved to ourselves the level we are capable of playing. Our goal is to play a full 60 minutes, and we have yet to reach this. I think this weekend showed that if everyone shows up to play a full game, we will be unstoppable.”
The Panthers will have the opportunities to live up to these expectations when they travel to Williams this Saturday.