Women’s Hockey Loses Against Holy Cross and Manhattanville
The MIT women’s hockey team lost a pair of games this weekend, including one against nationally-ranked No. 5 Manhattanville College on Saturday.
Holy Cross beats MIT with balanced offense
A total of 13 players registered at least one point in an 8-1 victory by the College of Holy Cross over MIT in an Eastern College Athletic Conference East women’s ice hockey game last Friday. Samantha Rush paced the Crusaders (4-2-1, 3-1-0 ECAC East) with a goal and two points, while Rachel A. Longley ’08 recorded the lone goal for the Engineers (0-3-0, 0-3-0 ECAC East).
Parnell Ormiston opened the scoring for Holy Cross as she connected on passes from Jocelyn Kratchmer and Murphy after 6:43 had elapsed in the game. Less than two minutes later, Katherine Falkowski corralled the rebound of Amy McGhee’s shot for what proved to be the game-winning goal. McGhee earned her second point of the night when she converted feeds from Casey Harvel and Kathryn Kelley in the 13th minute. The Crusaders notched their fourth goal of the frame when Samantha Rush put Falkowski’s pass into the top right corner of the net.
Holy Cross carried the momentum into the second period, as Rush and Kratchmer collaborated in setting up Stephanie Couzin after 2:06 expired. The scoring ceased until a power-play goal by the Crusaders with 4:58 on the clock. Passes by Rush and Christina D’Ambrogio found Lisa Wilson, whose blast from inside the blue line hit the left post and bounced into the right side of the net. Exactly 47 seconds later, MIT ended the shutout when Longley poked in the rebound of a shot by Catherine G. Harding ’09. Holy Cross extended its lead to 7-1 on Wilson’s power-play goal, which was set up by Kelley with 14 seconds remaining before the intermission.
In the third period, the Engineers received their first power plays of the night, but they could not convert either opportunity. Holy Cross tacked on their final goal with 3:27 left in the contest. MIT goalie Rachel A. Bowens-Rubin ’11 made a diving save on a shot by Katelyn Doherty, but Wendy Nobrega gathered the rebound and flipped it into the net.
In her intercollegiate debut, Bowens-Rubin collected 52 saves. Lindsey Atkinson made four saves through two periods of play while Alicia Lew closed out the night with eight stops.
Tech manages a close game against Manhattanville
A pair of second-period goals led nationally-ranked No. 5 Manhattanville College to a 4-1 win over MIT in an ECAC East women’s ice hockey game on Saturday. Natalie Zitek and Jessica Zimmerman each posted a goal and an assist for the Valiants (4-2-0, 3-1-0 ECAC East), while Connie C. Lu ’11 and Kelcie A. Abraham ’10 both recorded a point for the Engineers (0-4-0, 0-4-0 ECAC East).
After defensive-minded play by both sides, Manhattanville opened the scoring when Zitek found Shannon Coffey for a power-play goal with 6:57 remaining in the period. The Valiants continued to attack, but they could not add to their lead as Bowens-Rubin turned away 20 shots in the period.
In the second period, Zimmerman and Holly Nonis set up Jess Scioli for the eventual game-winning goal after 4:09 had expired. The Engineers countered by making several charges at the net during the next three minutes, but Zimmerman knocked in a pass by Caroline O’Neill that extended the Valiants’ lead to 3-0. MIT did not back down and eventually found success with 2:24 left in the period. On a breakaway, Abraham’s initial shot was stopped, but Lu was in position to poke the puck across the line for the first goal of her career.
Following a balanced second period in which both sides totaled eight shots, Manhattanville amassed a 24-2 advantage in the final period. The Valiants capped the scoring when Erin Brawley sent the puck from the left side of the net to Zitek, who flipped it in for the second power-play goal of the day in the 10th minute.
Despite being out-shot 56-14 over the course of the game, the Engineers held their own as the Valiants’ victory was their closest in 11 meetings. Bowens-Rubin collected 38 saves for MIT, while Liane Ortis notched 10 saves in her first win of the season.
MIT continues ECAC East play today when it hosts New England College in the Johnson Ice Rink at 7 p.m.