Middlebury, Vt. – In a battle between a pair of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women's ice hockey teams both ranked in the top ten nationally, the No. 6-ranked Middlebury College Panthers and the No. 9-ranked Trinity College Bantams settled for a 1-1 tie this afternoon at Middlebury's Kenyon Arena. Trinity moves to 8-1-2 overall and 3-1-2 in the NESCAC, snapping its five-game winning streak but extending its unbeaten streak to seven games. Middlebury is now 7-2-1 overall and 6-0-1 in the league, winning for the second time in as many days.
Trinity had a promising short-handed bid in the first period, but Panther goalie Alexi Bloom made the save on the attempt Bantam junior forward Celia Colman-McGaw (Manchester, Conn.). Trinity rookie goaltender Alexa Pujol (New Canaan, Conn.) and Bloom each denied of pair of scoring opportunities later in the period, leaving the game in a scoreless tie after one.
Anna McNally scored for Middlebury 4:50 into the second period, collecting a long pass from Heather Marrison and putting home her own rebound after the initial shot on the breakaway was saved. Trinity tied the game at the 9:28 mark when junior defender Domi Di Dia (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored on a power play. After a face-off win, Di Dia scored with a wrister from classmate Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) and freshman Emily Kleidon (Oakdale, Minn.) through traffic, as the Panthers allowed their first power-play goal in their opponent's last 27 opportunities.
After a scoreless final period, Middlebury held a slight 3-2 advantage in shots during the extra session but neither team had a close chance at the win. The Panthers held a 24-17 shots advantage in the game, but both goaltenders were solid as Bloom finished the game with 16 saves and Pujol made 23 stops for the Bantams.
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