No. 1 Middlebury Edges No. 10 Women’s Ice Hockey, 2-1 (OT)

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. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - David Le '10)