Hartford, Conn. - Senior goalkeeper Lauren Mellen
(Joliet, Ill.) made 27 of her 53 saves in the third period
to lead the visiting Connecticut College Camels to a 2-1 victory
over the Trinity College Bantams in the quarterfinal round of the
New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Ice
Hockey Championship Tournament this afternoon action at Williams
Rink. Trinity, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, ends the
season with a 13-10-2 record, while the No. 6-seeded Camels improve
to 9-13-3 with their first win in four games and advance to the
NESCAC Semifinals next weekend. Connecticut College snaps a
five-game losing streak against the Bantams to reach the NESCAC
Final Four for the first time. Trinity had won two road games
against the Camels during the regular season.
Camel sophomore defender Brigid O'Gorman (Eden,
N.Y.) opened the scoring with 5:25 left in the first
period when her wrist shot from just outside the left face-off
circle snuck past Trinity junior goalie Isabel Iwachiw (New
York, N.Y.) on a bounce. Connecticut College
provided most of the offensive pressure in the first frame, but the
Bantams came alive and took 11 shots in the last four minutes
before the first break. Connecticut College increased its
advantage to 2-0 on a smooth flip into the upper half of the net by
junior forward Erin Davey (Nashua, N.H.) at the
8:38 mark of the second period. Camel senior tri-captain
forward Emily Mason (Williamstown, Mass.) assisted
on what proved to be the game-winning score.
The Bantams came out firing in the final stanza, and finally got
one past Mellen on a rebound stuff-in by freshman forward
Hannah Harvey (Silverthorne, Colo.). During
a Trinity power play, Mellen stopped a shot by Trinity sophomore
blueliner Laura Komarek (Plymouth, Minn.) and the
first rebound try by Bantam sophomore forward Jill Roloff
(West Semeca, N.Y.), before Harvey brought the home team
back within one goal 49 seconds into the third. Trinity went on to
pepper Mellen with shots throughout the period, but Mellen was
flawless the rest of the way despite two more power-play chances
for the Bantams. Trinity's closest chance for a tie came when
Harvey barely missed on an attempt to one-time the puck into an
open left side of the net on a pass across by rookie defender
Dominique Di Dia (Studio City, Calif.) with 2:40
on the clock. Trinity outshot the Camels, 28-2, in the third
period and finished 1-for-8 on power plays for the game.
Iwachiw totaled 17 saves between the pipes for the Bantams.
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