Women's Hockey Bucks Mules in NCAA Openers

The second-ranked women’s hockey team got off to a hot start this weekend, winning both games at Colby on Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 16, as they try to put last year’s NCAA Championship defeat behind them.

The Panthers won their season opener 2-1, then earned their first shutout with a commanding 4-0 win on Saturday. For a team with high hopes for the postseason, the winter could not have begun in a better way. The Panthers showed toughness by denying Colby a comeback in the first game, while asserting their defensive prowess in the second.

Middlebury continued its history of effective play against Colby, outscoring the Mules 6-1, slightly less impressive than last season’s aggregate score of 14-3 against them.

The first game opened with a strange penalty that led to Middlebury’s first goal. As the Panthers took to the ice to begin their skating warm-ups, the Mules took their time in the locker room, earning them a protocol violation to start the game. Middlebury took advantage of the violation, and scored a power play goal to start off the season 1:58 into the game. Jane Freda ’17 notched the first goal of her collegiate career with a tip-in off a shot from Sara Ugalde ’14, who received the pass from Carly Watson ’17. This also marked Watson’s first collegiate assist.

The second goal came in the second period, when Katie Mandigo ’16 tipped the puck into the goal after it popped off of Mules goaltender Brianne Wheeler following a shot from Anna Van Kula ’16 with eight minutes gone in the period. Just a few seconds later, Colby scored a goal off a face off win to let the Panthers know they were not giving up. Luckily, the Panthers were able to finish the game off with strong defense and a nice performance in goal by Annabelle Jones ’15, who finished with 21 saves on the day.

“Everyone stayed pretty calm on the bench during the third period, even though we knew Colby could get back into the game at any point,” Van Kula said. “We were all focused on doing the little things right and working hard in our defensive zone so that we could keep them off the scoreboard.”

Coach Bill Mandigo is excited to see his team producing healthily in the early stages.

“I have been impressed with the practices so far,” coach Mandigo said. “It’s nice to see that transition into the games.”

The next day Middlebury blew Colby away and left Waterville with two wins after a 4-0 shutout victory in a game where they outshot their opponent 42-22.

Middlebury’s goaltender Jones finished the day with 22 saves, half of which came in a clutch third period. Colby did its best to trip themselves up out of the gate, leaving the first period with four penalties under its belt. On the third power play for Middlebury, Katie Sullivan ’15 swept the puck in from the left side of the goal, making Colby pay for its mistakes. Within the first half of the second period, Middlebury secured their lead with two goals.

At 4:53 Hannah Bielawski ’15 scored with help from Sullivan and Jesse Brownschidle ’17. Just three minutes later, Kate Moreau ’15 put one in the back of the net with assists from Allie Aiello ’17 and Sullivan. Middlebury finished its attack with a goal in the third period off a passing play from the sides into the middle. Aiello gave it up to Bielawski, who fed it into the center for Moreau to earn her second of the game.

Yet again Jones was a wall in net, stopping 22 Mule attempts and earning her sixth career shutout.

The Panthers converted on two of eight power play opportunities over the weekend.

With a successful starting weekend behind them, the women’s hockey program looks ahead to its home opener at Kenyon Arena with a double-header with Trinity on Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23.