Trailing 2-1 late in the third period, the fourth-ranked Middlebury women's hockey team utilized a goal from Maddie Winslow with 6:11 remaining and earned a 2-2 tie with ninth-ranked Amherst (10-1-2, 6-0-1) in NESCAC action on Friday evening. The Panthers (8-2-2, 5-1-1) jump right back into action as the two teams play again inside Chip Kenyon '85 Arena on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. This weekend's games between the conference foes are serving as a Faceoff Against Breast Cancer event.  

In the first period, scoring chances were hard to come by for each team. At the 10:17 mark, Middlebury's Carly Watson put the hosts on the board first when she laced a shot from the left point that deflected off a Jeff defender. Watson was setup on a pass from Winslow along the side boards after Katie Mandigo dug the puck out of an Amherst player's skate near the goal line. The score remained a 1-0 lead in favor of the Panthers into the break.

Out of the intermission, Amherst turned up its offensive pressure throwing pucks at the net in the second. Looking for the tying goal, Emily Flom knotted the game 1-1 at 4:26 when she sent a hard shot from the left point that hit the right post and caromed in. Erin Martin was credited with the assist for the Jeffs after she won a faceoff following a stoppage of play.

The game stayed tied at 1-1 until the midway point of the final period. On the powerplay, Amherst's Lynndy Smith put the visitors ahead scoring through a crowd in front of the crease following stick-to-stick passes from near the goal line by Tori Salmon and Martin. Looking for the equalizer, Winslow tipped in a shot by Hannah Bielawski following a pass through traffic from Mandigo for a 2-2 score.

Amherst nearly took the lead with under two minutes left in the third when Salmon laced a shot that was saved by Middlebury goalie Annabelle Jones as frantic action continued at both ends of the ice.

In the overtime period, neither team had many scoring opportunities as just four total shots were fired on net.

For the contest, Middlebury held a narrow 31-28 advantage in shots. Jones tallied 26 saves in front of the net, while Amherst goalie Yuna Evans was credited with 29 stops.

WCAX HIGHLIGHTS