Women's Hockey Visits Amherst For NESCAC Championhship

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March 03, 2009

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The Middlebury College women’s hockey team will make its eighth consecutive trip in the NESCAC semifinals as they travel to Amherst this weekend. The Panthers will take on Colby at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, while the host school meets Connecticut College at noon. The winners meet for the NESCAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

The Panthers have an 12-4 (.750) record in NESCAC Tournament play, advancing to the title game five times, with three championships. Middlebury opened the season at 4-0-1 before suffering a tie and a loss heading into the semester break. The Panthers then went on a tear, boasting a 10-game unbeaten streak before dropping two of three games in February. Middlebury ended the season with three straight wins, before defeating Williams 3-1 last weekend in a NESCAC Quarterfinal match-up. The Panthers are currently ranked sixth in the latest Division III national poll.

The Middlebury offense leads the NESCAC this season with 4.04/game, while the defense is second with 1.88 goals allowed/contest. The power play leads the league, converting at .210, while the penalty kill is fifth at .837.

Molly Vitt (10-18-28) leads the team in scoring and is second in the NESCAC with .78 assists/game. Annmarie Cellino (9-18-27) is third in the NESCAC in assists (.74 apg), while Vitt ranks fourth with 1.22 points/game. Maggie Melberg (11-12-23), Erika Nakamura (11-9-20), Heather McCormack (10-10-20) and Nora Bergman (6-13-19) round out the leading scorers. Lani Wright is 9-0-2 with a 1.57 GAA (2^nd) and a .908 SV%, while Alexi Bloom is 8-3-2 with a 2.06 GAA (3^rd) and a .909 SV%.

2009 NESCAC WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals, Saturday, February 28^th at Higher Seeds
#1 Amherst 7, #8 Hamilton 1
#2 Middlebury 3, #7 Williams 1
#3 Trinity 1, #6 Conn. College 2
#4 Bowdoin 1, #5 Colby 2

Semifinals - Saturday, March 7^th Amherst College
Conn. College (9-13-3) vs. Amherst (20-4) – 12:00 p.m.
Colby (12-10-3) vs. Middlebury (17-3-4) – 3:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, March 8^th – Amherst College
NESCAC Championship - 2:00 p.m.