Seahawks skate past Valiants

STAMFORD, Conn. – The Manhattanville women's hockey team fell to the Seahawks of Salve Regina by a final score of 3-2 in ECAC East Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Terry Conners Rink.

For the second straight game Manhattanville headed into the third period trailing. Even though a goal from junior forward Sydney Asselstine (Hartington, Ontario/Nepean Wildcats (PWHL)) tied the game at two, a late goal off the stick of Salve Regina's Taylor Shepherd put the Seahawks ahead with just over five minutes remaining and the Valiants were unable to answer.

After skating to a hard-fought 3-3 tie against Holy Cross last night, the Valiants took the ice against Salve Regina for a very big game which would have large implications on the ECAC East playoff picture. The game got underway quickly and before the fans could settle in their seats, Salve Regina's Michaela Chiuccariello splitting the defense and scored through the five-hole of Manhattanville junior goaltender Kirsten Shaughnessy (Le Center, Minn./LeSueur-Henderson St. Peter), coming just 14 seconds into the game.

The Valiants were on their heels after the first goal but found their composure as the period went on. Freshman defenseman Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects)scored her third goal of the season with a beautiful individual effort, tying the game at one. After picking up the puck in the defensive zone, Harris carried it the length of the ice, cut down the face-off circle and fired a shot high over the glove hand of Salve Regina goaltender Mariah Mosher.

Following the intermission, Salve Regina came out firing and managed to go up 2-1 at the 17:16 mark of the second period when Chiuccariello found teammate Sarah Markey in the slot who fired a shot that squeezed through the pads of Shaughnessy and into the back of the net. The teams skated hard and swapped a few scoring chances but ultimately headed into the third period at 2-1.

Manhattanville's power play unit went to work at the beginning of the third period when a tripping penalty gave the home team the man-advantage. Junior captain Rachel Morrison threw a puck on goal which took a weird bounce and ended up on the stick of Asselstine, who put the puck in the back of the net for her 10th goal of the season.

It seemed as if the Valiants were going to make a comeback similar to the night before versus Holy Cross. However, Shepherd gave the Seahawks their third one-goal lead of the game and the Valiants were unable to get another puck past Mosher, who recorded 24 saves on 26 shots. Shaughnessy had a solid performance for Manhattanville, turning away 20 of 23 shots.

Salve Regina gets back on the ice on Monday, Jan. 20 when the Seahawks take on Nichols at 6:10 p.m.