MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — The No. 10 Endicott women's ice hockey team fell to No. 1 Middlebury, 2-1, in overtime on Saturday evening at Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.
Endicott got on the scoreboard first when Courtney Sullivan (North Yarmouth, Maine) buried a backhander through traffic at the doorstep 41 seconds into the third period.
From there, Middlebury evened up the game with 1:11 left in regulation on a slap shot from the left face-off circle by Claudia Vira (High Bridge, N.J.).
Both teams produced plenty of scoring chances in overtime, but a breakaway goal by Raia Schluter (Weston, Mass.) late in the extra session (1:53 remaining) kept the Panthers' perfect season (9-0-0) intact.
In goal, Michaela O'Brien (Pembroke, Mass.) was outstanding for the Gulls as the junior netminder stopped 40 shots in the loss (6-2-1 overall/14-2-1 career).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Sullivan potted her 38th career goal, which ranks second all-time in program history.
- Sullivan entered the game tied with Jade Meier '20 (Fairbanks, Alaska) for second place in the program's record book.
- Middlebury is 4-0-0 at home.
- This was the second meeting between the two programs this season (loss, 2-1, 11/28/21, No. 9 vs. No. 2).
- Today's game was the Gulls' second against a No. 1 nationally ranked opponent this year (win, 4-3 OT, 11/27/21, Plattsburgh).
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 10 Endicott (9-3-1) visits Nichols on Friday, January 14 at 4 PM. No. 1 Middlebury (9-0-0) hosts Wesleyan next Friday at 7 PM.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
