The first round of the six women’s Division III conference tournaments went down this past weekend and all six, plus the ECAC Open, had a flair for the dramatic.
In the ECAC East, two games went to overtime as Castleton took down Maine 2-1 and then Salve Regina beat Nichols 3-2, both on Friday night.
Hannah Rose was the hero for Castleton 15:17 into extra time, while Taylor Shepherd’s second goal of the game 6:40 into the OT won it for Salve Regina.
In the other two games, Massachusetts-Boston edged Manhattanville 3-2 on Kristen Embrey’s game-winner early in the third and No. 5 Norwich blanked the University of New England 6-0 as Maki Shuchuk posted a natural hat trick in the third period.
Oswego beat Cortland 2-1 and Utica defeated Buffalo State 4-1 in the two ECAC West contests.
Rachel Lenard scored both Oswego goals and Bridget Smith made 28 stops for the Lakers. Morgan Reed’s hat trick led Utica. The game was actually tied 1-1 midway through the second period before the Pioneers scored three unanswered.
Bethel is off to the MIAC semifinals after beating St. Mary’s 7-1 last Thursday and then stunning No. 7 Gustavus Adolphus 6-3 Saturday night. Michelle Klimstra stopped 26 shots for Bethel Saturday night and Lindsay Burman and Lauren Kolak each scored two goals for the Royals.
In the other MIAC quarterfinal, St. Thomas beat Concordia (Minn.) 3-2 on Hannah Bird’s game-winner early in the third period and Taylor Neisen’s 34-save performance in goal, matching Madison Denny at the other end.
Over in the NCHA, No. 10 St. Norbert topped Marian 4-2 and Concordia (Wis.) edged St. Scholastica 2-1.
St. Norbert goalie Leigh Grall made 25 saves and four different players scored for the Green Knights. Samantha Reither’s power-play goal at 19:45 of the third period pushed Concordia past St. Scholastica in a certain upset and Bridget Slater finished with 31 saves for the Falcons.
Three NESCAC games went to overtime as No. 9 Amherst beat Colby 2-1 on a Tori Salmon goal 10:33 into the extra session and then No. 3 Middlebury eked out a 3-2 win over Hamilton on Emily Fluke’s game-winner 6:35 into the fourth OT on a Panthers’ power play.
Bowdoin eliminated Connecticut College 3-2 as Ariana Bourque won it at 15:23 of the extra period. Rachel Kennedy had tied the game 2-2 for Bowdoin at 18:30 of the third period.
The other NESCAC game saw Trinity goalie Sydney Belinskas stop all 37 shots and Emma Tani score the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Williams.
The WIAC semifinals saw No. 6 Wisconsin-River Falls sweep Wisconsin-Eau Claire and No. 8 Wisconsin-Stevens Point win both against Wisconsin-Superior.
River Falls won 6-1 Friday and 5-1 Saturday, while UWSP won 2-1 Friday and 5-0 on Saturday. In the 5-0 shutout for the Pointers, Janna Beilke-Skoug pushed aside all 29 shots she faced. Brianna Breiland scored two goals in River Falls’ clinching game Saturday.
In the ECAC Open, Holy Cross won the event after a 4-1 win over Franklin Pierce on Sunday. The Crusaders spotted Franklin Pierce an early 1-0 lead before coming back with four unanswered.
The other ECAC Open games had St. Anselm shutting out St. Michael’s 5-0 on Sunday and Holy Cross 3-1 winners over St. Anselm on Saturday and Franklin Pierce beating St. Michael’s 6-1, also on Saturday.
