Seahawks celebrate Senior Night with 3-2 win over Valiants

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – Junior Melanie Sherlock (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored with 6:21 remaining in the third period to lift the Salve Regina University women's ice hockey team to an exciting 3-2 victory over Manhattanville during Senior Night at St. Georges Ice Rink on Friday night. The win marks the second all-time victory for the Seahawks over the Valiants, mproving their record to 10-8-4 overall and 6-6-3 in the conference. The loss was the first for Manhattanville in their five contests, dropping the Valiants to 11-8-3 on the season, including a 9-4-2 mark during conference play.

Prior to the contest, Salve Regina honored seniors Kristen Aiello (Braintree, Mass.), Shannon Ellis (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Rebecca Simmons (Averill Park, N.Y.), and Jen Thiesing (Sandwich, Mass.) for their contributions to the university and its athletic department.

Junior Rachel Porter (Franklin, Mass.) compiled two points in the victory, tying the Seahawks single season record with 38 points on the year.  The junior defenseman scored the games opening goal with just 1:13 remaining in the first period to give Salve Regina the lead heading into the first intermission.

Porter then set up freshman Sarah Markey (Ashland, Mass.) midway through the second frame for a power play goal to give Salve Regina a 2-0 advantage.

However, the Seahawks battled penalty issues throughout the period, getting whistled for eight infractions in the middle frame alone. The Valiants took advantage of the man-up opportunities for a pair of power play goals to tie the game at 2-all heading into the third period.

The Seahawks had a golden opportunity when the Valiants were whistled for a pair of penalties within 14 seconds of each other at the 8:35 and 8:59 marks of the frame, setting up 1:46 of 5-on-3 hockey for Salve Regina. However, Manhattanville was up to the challenge and managed to kill-off the penalty time and return to even strength.

With just under seven minutes remaining in regulation sophomore Shannon Coleman (Chicago, Ill.) and freshman Michaela Chiuccariello (Winchester, Mass.) pushed the puck to Sherlock who raced down the ice and fired a slap shot past the Manhattanville goalie for what stood up as the game-winning goal.

Senior goalie Rebecca Simmons stopped 27-of-29 shots to earn the victory in net, making several impressive saves to improve to 6-6-2 on the season

Both team return to action on the road tomorrow, as the Valiants travel to face Holy Cross at 2 p.m., while the Seahawks faceoff against Nichols at 7:40 p.m.