Box Score HARRISVILLE, R.I. (Feb. 17) – First-year goaltender Tori Gianformaggio stopped 26 shots en route to a 4-1 ECAC East women's hockey victory over visiting Plymouth State on Friday night. The win reset the program standard for most for the Bison in a season and helped Nichols claim a spot in the ECAC East Championship tournament.

Senior Mandy Manopla put the Bison on top in the first when sophomore Megan Gerein dropped the pass off for her at the top of the right circle and Manopla's wrist shot found the bottom corner of the net. It was Manopla's team-leading 10th goal and 20th point of the season coming 5:20 into the period. The Bison had several more chances to add to their lead in the first with three power-plays, including a 5-3 at one point, but they could not capitalize on any. Plymouth State outshot Nichols 9-7, but Nichols took the 1-0 lead into the first break.

Nichols first-year forward Lisa Coskren gave Nichols a 2-0 lead when she beat the goalie with a backhander from the slot 9:17 into the second period. First-year Grace Murphy fed Coskren the pass from the corner after receiving a feed into the zone from classmate Talia Hohmann.

Despite tremendous pressure from the Panthers throughout the second, the Bison pushed the lead to 3-0 with 2:21 remaining on sophomore Bridget Griffin's goal. She received the pass at the point from Manopla and fired a slap-shot that beat the goalie high blocker side during a power-play.

Gianformaggio turned away all 14 shots in the second period, preserving the shutout going into the third.

Plymouth State's senior Bri Davis stole the puck behind the net in the attacking zone and scored on a wrap-around goal to get the Panthers on the board with 12:07 remaining in the contest. Nichols quickly answered back netting their fourth goal a little over a minute and a half later. Gerein knotted the goal on the play with the assists coming from senior Hannah Tardif and Murphy. The score would remain the same until the final whistle.

Nichols outshot the Panthers 31-27 in the game. Gianformaggio picked up the win improving her record to 5-3-0 while sophomore goalie Ali Ponte stopped 27 shots, but suffered the loss, dropping to 1-12-1 on the season. Nichols took advantage of two of the seven power-plays they saw, while Plymouth was 0-2 with an extra player.

The ECAC East regular season comes to a close on Saturday as Nichols (7-15-2, 4-11-2) hosts Southern Maine at 4:40 p.m. for “Senior Day.” Hannah Tardif, Mandy Manopla and Courtney Carey will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Plymouth State (1-18-3, 1-14-2) will make the trek to Manhattanville for a 4:00 p.m. faceoff tomorrow.

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