Women's Ice Hockey 3/8/2015 12:00:00 AM

Trinity Women's Ice Hockey Wins First NESCAC Title In Overtime Over Middlebury

Box Score

Herr Is The Hero With First And Last Goals For Bantams

Middlebury, Vt. – The Trinity College women's ice hockey team made history on Sunday afternoon at Kenyon Arena, defeating top-seeded Middlebury College, 3-2, in overtime to capture the first-ever New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship in Bantam program history. With its sixth-straight win, the Bantams improve to 18-6-2 overall and will await tomorrow morning's NCAA Selection Show at 10:00 a.m. to see who they will take on in the opening round. Middlebury fell to Trinity for the second time this winter to move to 20-4-3, and hopes to earn an at-large berth into the field of eight in the NCAA Tournament.

Fifty-six seconds into the extra frame, junior Shelby Labe (Pine Brook, N.J.) fired a shot from the point that junior forward Cheeky Herr (Princeton, N.J.) deflected past Middlebury netminder Madeline Marsh for the game-winner. Herr's tally was her 19th of the winter and gave the Bantams an automatic berth in NCAA Championship Tournament. Between the pipes, Belinskas finished with 42 saves to register her 13th win of the year for the Bantams.

"Throughout the season, our team has done a great job of staying grounded, sticking to our game plan and playing our game," second-year Trinity College Head Coach Jenny Potter said. "I am proud of how our seniors stepped up and have led our team starting with pre-season workouts in the fall. We have a fantastic group of players and I am so happy for our senior class."

Trinity struck first as junior Herr potted her first goal of the contest just under three minutes into play. The 5-3 winger skated in on the left side along the boards and fired a shot on that beat Marsh short side. Herr's marker was set up nicely as defensemen Tasha Adams (Reston, Va.) and captain Lily Gacicia (Milton, Mass.) were credited with assists. Later in the stanza, junior Emma Tani (Orange, Calif.) gave the visitors a two-goal edge as she buried a rebound in front of Marsh. The Bantams won a face-off in the Panther zone and, after Marsh stopped shots from first-year Delaney Harrop (Walpole, Mass.) and senior assistant captain Lucy Robinson (Toronto, Ontario), Tani netted her 10th tally of the winter. In the opening 20 minutes, the Bantams special teams unit shined, killing all three Middlebury power plays. Trinity first-year goaltender Sydney Belinskas (Port Orange, Fla.) made 18 saves in the opening period as the Bantams took a 2-0 advantage into the first intermission.

First-year forward Elizabeth Wulf put Middlebury on the board at just under the 4:30 mark the second with a wrist shot from just inside the left circle that beat Belinskas five-hole. The Panthers peppered Belinskas with shots in the opening minutes of the frame and finally broke through to cut the deficit in half as junior Katie Mandigo and first-year Maddie Winslow registered the assists. Through the remainder of the period, both teams had scoring opportunities but neither was able to breakthrough. With the Bantams on the penalty kill, Robinson stole the puck at center ice, skated in on a breakaway and saw her shot attempt turned aside by Marsh. Trinity had another chance with five minutes remaining in the stanza as Robinson and Tani had a 2-on-1 odd-man rush. Robinson slid the puck nicely over to Tani whose shot was gloved by Marsh. With under a minute remaining in the second, Middlebury looked to knot the game at two as senior Emily Fluke skated in uncontested and took a shot that Belinskas paddled aside as Trinity took a one-goal lead into the final period.

On their fifth power-play opportunity of the game, Middlebury finally broke through to tie the contest at 2-all early in the final frame. Panther blueliner Hannah Bielawksi took a shot from the point that Belinskas saved and on the scramble for the rebound, Winslow found the back of the net for her 10th goal of the winter. Following Winslow's marker the Panthers had another point-blank chance, as senior forward Katie Sullivan corralled a rebound and fired a backhand that Belinksas stopped with a diving glove save.