In terms of women’s Division III action, 2016 picked up right where 2015 left off as teams hit the ice this past weekend.
Overtime and upsets seemed to be the weekend trend.
Kicking off the year on Jan. 1, Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Mary’s battled to a 1-1 tie as both teams popped their goals late in the third period — UWEC’s Lexi Wilson at 16:22, Jamie Henderson for St. Mary’s at 17:53.
The next night, Danielle Lucker lifted UWEC past St. Mary’s 2-1 with the power-play OT winner 1:52 into extra time.
The Rutland Herald Invitational was the start of the upsets as Holy Cross defeated Manhattanville, 4-3, in the opener and then No. 8 Castleton, 4-1, in the title game Sunday afternoon with four unanswered goals.
Delaney Flynn’s extra-attacker goal at 19:10 of the third period gave Colby a 3-3 tie with Castleton to open the tournament and Colby then blanked Manhattanville 2-0 in the consolation game as Angelica Crites stopped all 21 shots fired her way.
Saturday, St. Anselm’s Sarah Geisinger tied the game at three at 18:53 and then Allison Quinn at 1:14 of OT completed the comeback over Trinity.
In the last OT game Saturday, Chelsea Blackburn needed just 42 seconds to snap a scoreless tie and give Stevenson the 1-0 win over Chatham. Stevenson goalie Sarah Modzelewski made 32 saves.
Sunday’s lone overtime contest saw Olivia Hawes start the game with a power-play goal and end it with a power-play goal as Hamilton bounced Wesleyan 3-2. Jessica Brennan potted both goals for Wesleyan.
In terms of ranked teams in action, No. 2 Elmira edged Williams 2-1 Saturday, No. 6 Amherst downed Southern Maine 4-1 Sunday, and top-ranked Plattsburgh beat Ottawa in exhibition play Sunday afternoon. Plattsburgh plays another exhibition game Monday against Concordia (PQ).
The Codfish Bowl kicks off Monday in Boston with Canton, Endicott, Trinity, and Massachusetts-Boston partaking in the event.
