Box Score HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Senior
Jordan Fencl (Amana, Iowa) connected on her first goal of the season but Nichols College fell to Manhattanville 5-2 in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action Saturday night at Levy Rink.
After a scoreless first period, Fencl took a pass up the right side from senior
Taylor Brown (Winthrop, Mass.), skated up the right boards, and fired a wrist shot over the glove of freshman goaltender Ekaterina Nikonova (Lybertcy, Russia) to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.
The Bison (6-11-0, 3-7-0 ECACE) extended the lead to 2-0 at the 11-minute mark when senior
Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) beat Nikonova with a backhanded floater over her stick. Fencl and senior
Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) received credit for the assists on the goal.
At 14:39, the Valiants cut the lead in half. Senior Alla Traun (Edina, Minn.) sent a cross-ice pass to classmate Michele Meggiolaro (Whippany, N.J.). Meggiolaro then broke through the defense and put a shot off the chest of senior
Tori Gianformaggio (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Senior Sydney Asselstine (Hartington, Ontario) gathered the rebound and fired a one-timer over the glove of Gianformaggio to bring the score to 2-1.
The third period was all Manhattanville (8-7-5, 6-3-3 ECACE). Senior Aubrey Bachand (Harwichport, Mass.) and sophomore Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo.) both capitalized on power-play opportunities in the first two minutes of the third stanza to give the Valiants their first lead of the game at 3-2. Meggiolaro added another at 5:07 when she danced through the Bison defense and fired a wrister over the stick of Gianformaggio. Sophomore Jerin Dinkins (Grants Pass, Ore.) scored the empty-netter with just 24 seconds remaining in the game to seal the deal for the Valiants.
Manhattanville outshot the Bison 38-27 for the game and were led by Meggiolaro, Traun, and Harris with five shots each. Nichols was led by Murphy with eight shots while Bufis chipped in with five.
Gianformaggio took the loss after stopping 33 shots and fell to 5-6-0 on the year. Nikonova made 25 saves and improved to 2-1-1 on the season.
The Bison are back in action on Wednesday when they travel to take on Wesleyan (CT) at 7:00 p.m. The Valiants travel to Salve Regina on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
