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| Middlebury's Elizabeth Wulf sets up in front of the Trinity net on Saturday. (Will Costello) |
Middlebury scored three unanswered goals as the Panthers advanced to
the NESCAC Championship with a 3-1 triumph over Trinity on Saturday in
Kenyon Arena. Top-seeded Middlebury (19-4-3) will meet the winner of the
second semifinal between #2 Amherst and #3 Connecticut College on
Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The title game will be the 11
th for the
Panthers as the Bantams finish their season at 15-9-2. The winner of
Sunday's title contest will receive the conference's automatic bid to
the NCAA Division III Championship.
Trinity had a good opportunity to grab an early lead when Shannon
Ferrell slipped behind the Panther defense on a breakaway. Farrell
whistled a shot over the cross bar just over two minutes into the game.
Sixth-ranked Middlebury earned a power play with 5:42 left in the
opening period and moved the puck well, but weren't rewarded for its
effort. The Panthers took seven shots with three of them being on goal.
Elizabeth Wulf had the best chance with a deflection at the left side of the net that Bantam goalie Sydney Belinskas turned aside.
The Bantams got a late power play and capitalized on a tremendous
end-to-end effort by Emma Tani. Tani collected the puck in front of the
goal after Belinskas broke up a Middlebury centering pass, weaved her
way through the neutral zone, jumped past a defender and finished off
the rush with a high shot. That goal came with 12 seconds left in the
period and was her ninth of the season.
In the second period, the Panthers pulled even at the 8:57 mark on the first career goal by
Jenna Marotta. Marotta drilled a shot from the right point on the power play after
Julia Wardwell slid the puck across from the opposite side.
Trinity came close to regaining the lead on a rush up the right wing
led by Farrell. Farrell skated in along the boards and set up Kate
Fraley for a one-timer from inside the circle. Middlebury goalie
Julia Neuburger steered the scoring bid aside keeping the score tied at 1-1.
The hosts struck again while on the power play later in the period, when
Maddie Winslow
netted her team-leading 16th of the season after trading passes with
Wardwell. That goal came at the 16:39 mark of the middle period.
The Panthers protected their one-goal lead throughout the period, but
Trinity made a late push. Melissa Maffeo and Hannah Oganeku each had
shots from close range stopped by Neuburger on a scramble for a loose
puck at the top of the crease with just under five minutes left in
regulation.
Trinity called a time out with 53.2 seconds remaining and also
brought Belinskas to the bench for an extra attacker. The Panthers
controlled the ensuing face off taken just outside the Bantam blue line
and kept the guests hemmed in their own zone until
Jessica Young added an empty-net goal for Middlebury with 10 seconds remaining.
Neuburger finished with 21 saves, while Belinskas had 19, as each
team finished with 22 shots on goal. The Panthers were 2-4 on the power
play and Trinity had one goal on two attempts.
