Women's hockey shocks top-ranked Amherst

WATERVILLE, Maine --- Colby College may have pulled off the upset of the year in NCAA Division III women's hockey after shocking top-ranked and defending national champion Amherst College in a 3-2 victory Saturday at Alfond Rink.

The Mules halted Amherst's 53-game unbeaten streak in regular season conference play and dropped the Lord Jeffs to a 12-2-4 overall record and an 8-1-3 record in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Colby, which had heavy graduation losses after making the NESCAC semifinals in three of the past four years, improved to 3-12-5 overall and won for the first time in the conference to move to 1-8-3.

"It was great overall effort from the entire team," Colby head coach David Venditti said. "We played a full 60 minutes and didn't let up despite the pressure. The players fed off each other's energy and brought it out on the ice each shift. We really stuck to the game plan and displayed composure throughout the game."

Colby goaltender Loni Pisani (Kanata, Ontario) earned her first collegiate victory with 31 saves after stopping 40 shots against the Lord Jeffs on Friday night in a 6-2 loss.

Colby scored a trio of first period goals, including the game's first goal just 2:23 into the contest, before holding off the Lord Jeffs for the win. The  Mules took the 1-0 lead on a score from Marissa Simmons (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) off assists from Kaitlyn Conway (Andover, Mass.) and Stephanie Scarpato (Osterville, Mass.). Less than 10 minutes later, Scarpato put Colby up 2-0 with an unassisted goal on a shot that beat Amherst goaltender Sinead Murphy (Rochester, Minn).

Less than 90 seconds after Scarpato's tally, Amherst senior Molly Malloy (Stamford, Conn.) closed the gap to 2-1 off assists from Cianna Wyshnytzky (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) and Alyssa Chwick (Purchase, N.Y.). With Amherst pushing for an equalizer, Colby was able to beat the Lord Jeff defense and Murphy for a third time at the 13:11 mark of the first stanza on a Meghan Tedoldi (Needham, Mass.) score.  

Assists on the third Colby score were awarded to Conway and Scarpato, who entered the day as Colby's leading scorer with 22 points on nine goals and 13 assists. She added three points in the first period against the top-ranked team in Division III.

In the second period, Amherst closed the deficit to a single score once again as senior Michelle McGann (New Berlin, Wis.) scored at the 12:36 mark off assists from Josie Fisher (Norwich, Vt.) and Randi Zukas (Glen Head, N.Y.).

Amherst was unable to beat Pisani in the final period to equalize, with McGann's tally in the middle frame standing as the game's final score.

Colby gets a chance to enjoy this victory with a long break between games. The Mules do not play again until a home game with Wesleyan on Friday, Feb. 12. 

Colby 3, Amherst 2

Amherst              1#1#0---2

Colby                     3#0#0---3

1^st period

C: Marissa Simmons (Kaitlyn Conway, Stephanie Scarpato), 2:23

C: Stephanie Scarpato, 11:44

A: Molly Malloy (Cianna Wyshnytzky, Alyssa Chwick), 13:11

C: Meghan Tedoldi (Kaitlyn Conway, Stephanie Scarpato), 14:18

2^nd period

A: Michelle McGann (Josie Fisher, Randi Zukas), 12:36

                Shots: Amherst 33, Colby 18. Goalies: Sinead Murphy (Amherst, 58:40, 3 GA, 15 saves); Loni Pisani (Colby, 60:00, 2 GA, 31 saves).