We Mourn the Loss of Abigail “Abby” Harris (December 30, 2002 – December 29, 2022)
Some heartbreaking news, the Manhattanville Women’s Hockey program along with the entire D-III Hockey Community lost a beloved member on Thursday, December 29, 2022. Her name was Abigail Harris, known as Abby. Via Manhattanville Athletics, Abby joined the team during the 2020-2021 season, also known as the COVID year; she was then unfortunately diagnosed with brain cancer prior to the start of the 2021-2022 season. In a quote taken from Manhattanville Athletics, Head Coach Jennifer MacAskill said “Abby’s legacy within our program and our lives will never be forgotten. She was a selfless teammate, a fiercely loyal friend, and a light in the lives of everyone who had a chance to meet her. This loss is felt deeply by our players, alumni and staff and our hearts are with George and Lourdes Harris [Her Parents].”
It was also mentioned in the article how Abby, after being diagnosed, spent time traveling the world with her family and rooting for her favorite NHL team, the Boston Bruins. The full link to the article via Manhattanville Athletics can be found HERE and Abby’s Obituary can be found HERE.
In other tributes to Abby, the Manhattanville Men’s hockey team had a moment of silence before their game vs Utica University during the pre-game intros and national anthem to honor her legacy. The Women’s team returns home this Friday and Saturday where they will collect donations to the Abby Harris Hockey Scholarship Fund.
Hamilton is on a tear
Hamilton College opened the year ranked #15 in the USCHO preseason poll are currently climbing their way up the ranks, now sitting at #6 after a 10-2-0 start. What’s crazy about Hamilton’s current record, 9 out of their 12 games have been against opponents who are either currently ranked or were ranked in the USCHO top-15 poll, to be exact, 75% of their games have been against ranked opponents. Hamilton has only lost two games, one being a 2-1 road loss to Oswego State and the other was in a two-game series vs (now #4) Amherst where the Continentals got shutout 4-0. Other than that, they’ve been perfect, the ranked opponents they’ve defeated so far (ranking at time of game) #11 Amherst, Oswego State (has floated in and out of the rankings), #15 Endicott *twice, #10 Elmira, #6 Colby *twice, & most recently they defeated #13 Nazareth 4-1 at home.
Hamilton is currently way ahead of pace in terms of pursuing the best record in program history, sitting at 10-2-0, they’re looking to give the current favorites Amherst a run at the NESCAC title. Remember how I mentioned the NESCAC is the best conference in women’s D-III hockey? Well currently they have the #4, #6, #7, #9, #14, & #15 ranked teams in the USCHO poll. This conference could very well take up all but one at-large bid this year.
Hamilton’s next test is a two-game home slate vs Williams College (7-5-0) on Jan. 13/Jan. 14 at 7pm/3pm ET.
Two Red Dragons earn milestones!
The Cortland Red Dragons had some historical accolades take place in their 6-0 shutout win over the Morrisville Mustangs. Graduate-Senior Grace Schnorr had 1 goal and 3 assists in the win in which she also reached two accolades. She achieved her 100th career point which makes her the first player in Cortland Women’s Hockey history to reach this mark. By recording 3 assists, Schnorr now has 43 career assists which is most all time in Cortland Women’s Hockey history, breaking the tie she had at 40 with the previous leader Judy Ellis – (2003-2007).
The second player to earn a program record was goaltender Molly Goergen who recorded her 9th career shutout, the previous record was 8 by Chelsea Allain – (2017-2020). The most impressive feature of the record-setting shutout was the fact that Goergen broke the record in just one-and-a-half seasons of play. The future for the sophomore goaltender looks bright.
Other Notable Results
#3 Plattsburgh defeated #8 Middlebury 2-1 in OT on Tuesday 1/10/23.
#5 Amherst swept Trinity, winning 2-1 & 3-1 on 1/6/23-1/7/23.
#7 Norwich defeated William Smith 2-1 on 1/7/23.
#10 Elmira defeated #7 Norwich 3-2 on Friday 1/6/23.
#15 Utica shutout Oswego 5-0 on 1/10/23.
SUNY Canton & Oswego tied 0-0 on 1/7/23.
As we look ahead on another week of hockey, let’s take a minute and remember to be fortunate every day you wake up and that your version of a bad day is probably someones version of a good day. Don’t take life for granted.
