Even as a subtle winter storm blanketed the Midwest over the weekend, the action was far from cold as it pertains to D-III women’s contests.
Ranked teams got back on the ice, two tournaments went down, and, as always, overtime games were in abundance.
At the Adrian College Bruiser Bowl Classic, the hometown and No. 4-ranked Bulldogs outscored their opponents 15-1 with a 10-0 shellacking of Manhattanville to open the event and then a 5-1 win over St. Olaf.
In the shutout over the Vaiants, Jade Walsh made just two saves through 40 minutes before giving way to Anne Rademacher for the final period, where she preserved the shutout with nine saves. Logan Taylor posted a goal and five assists for Adrian, while Sydney Smith went for a goal and three helpers, Kristin Lewicki scored twice with an assist and Michelle Jones added a pair of goals.
Against St. Olaf, Lewicki potted three goals with a helper and Taylor had two snipes and an assist as Brooke Gibson finished with 21 saves.
Also in Adrian, St. Olaf beat Finlandia 4-1 and Manhattanville topped Finlandia 4-3 on Lillie’s Ryan’s winner at 15:58 of the third period. The goal was also Ryan’s first of the season.
Another tournament was the DoubleTree Ice Hockey Classic at St. Michael’s. The tournament opened with two shutouts on Friday as Sacred Heart beat Plymouth State 5-0 (Nicole Magee 33 saves) and Hamilton beat St. Michael’s 3-0 (Jaime Meroz 26 saves).
The second day of the event saw Hamilton beat Plymouth State 2-1 and SHU take another goose egg in a 5-0 win over St. Michael’s as Amanda Fontaine kicked out all 20 shots she faced.
Perhaps the marquee series of the weekend had No. 6 Amherst hosting No. 8 Middlebury. Nothing was decided, though, as the two teams played to a 2-2 tie Friday and a 3-3 tie Saturday. Sabrina Dobbins stopped 28 shots, including five in overtime, for Amherst in the opener, while Elizabeth Wulf’s goal at 18:09 of the third period gave Middlebury the tie on Saturday.
No. 2 Elmira picked up a 2-1 win over No. 9 Norwich on Saturday as Kelcey Crawford made 21 saves and Louisa Lippiatt Durnell had a goal and an assist.
Third-ranked Lake Forest swept St. Mary’s with a 2-1 win Saturday and a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon. Caroline Campbell’s power-play goal at 15:29 of the third stood as the winner and then in the finale, Michelle Greeneway notched a pair of goals.
Wisconsin-River Falls entered the weekend ranked seventh in the country, but settled for a scoreless tie Friday against Concordia (Minn.). Andrea Klug made 29 saves for Concordia. The Falcons regrouped and took a 10-2 win the following day as Dani Sibley had three goals and three assists and Amy Auran, Chloe Kinsel, and Karleigh Wolkerstorfer each scored twice.
After the loss to Elmira, Norwich came back with a 2-0 win over Utica. Laurie King posted 27 saves for the shutout.
Neumann’s Jackie Schneider scored an overtime short-handed goal 2:52 into OT Friday to sink Salve Regina, 3-2, Caroline Kivisto was Bethel’s OT hero at 4:52 Friday to beat Concordia (Wis.), 3-2, and Erika Martin lifted Chatham past Morrisville, 3-2, with her OT winner at 3:01 on Saturday.
