Women's Ice Hockey 1/14/2014 12:00:00 AM

Trinity Women's Ice Hockey Picks up Win over Manhattanville

Hartford, Conn. – Rookie goaltender Claudia Escue (Kirkwood, Mo.) made 21 saves in her collegiate debut and the offense gave her plenty of support as the Trinity College Bantams cruised to a 7-2 win over the Manhattanville College Valiants in women's ice hockey action on Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center this evening. Trinity improves to 5-5-3 overall and Manhattanville drops to 6-8-1 on the year.

The teams traded two goals apiece in the opening period, as Trinity's leading scorer, sophomore Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.), found the back of the Manhattanville net 4:10 into the match, the first of her two goals on the evening. Manhattanville first-year Michaela Murdoch (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.) answered moments later to knot the game at 1-1. Trinity sophomore Shelby Labe (Pine Brook, N.J.) and Manhattanville first-year Maddy Seabrook (North Gower, Ontario) netted a goal apiece to round out the scoring in the first.

Trinity took control of the game in the following frame, as Tani opened the second period the same way she started the first, with an early goal to put the Bantams on top. Junior Lauren Fitzgerald (Milton, Mass.) scored her first of two goals 4:33 into the period, and senior co-captain Emily Kleidon (Oakdale, Minn.) deflected a slap shot from classmate Sarah Duncan (Dedham, Mass.) into the Manhattanville net, putting Trinity up, 5-2.

Trinity established a comfortable lead immediately in the third period, as sophomore Cheeky Herr (Princeton, N.J.) scored 1:37 into the period to put the Bantams on top, 6-2. Less than a minute later, Fitzgerald scored her second of the night to bring the score to 7-2, the eventual final mark.

Escue allowed just two scores on 23 shots on net to pick up the win in her first game action with the Bantams. Manhattanville first-year goalie Dana DeMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) started the game in net for the Valiants, making eight saves in 24:33 minutes on the ice. Junior Kirstin Shaughnessy (Le Center, Minn.) made eight saves in 17:50 minutes on the ice, and first-year Olivia Drew (York, Maine) made nine saves in 17:37 minutes, allowing no goals in net.