Middlebury Earns Top Seed, First Round Bye for Third Consecutive Year

HADLEY, Mass. - Middlebury College has earned the number-one seed and a first round bye in the 2008 NESCAC Women’s Ice Hockey Championship. The Panthers locked up the number-one seed during the final weekend of the regular season with a pair of NESCAC wins over Hamilton and Wesleyan, finishing the conference slate with an unbeaten 13-0-3 mark. The first round for the seven-team tournament begins on Saturday, March 1 at Amherst, Colby and Trinity, with the action moving to Middlebury on Saturday, March 8 for the semifinals.

Top-seeded Middlebury (19-2-3, 13-0-3 NESCAC) edged out Amherst for the number-one seed by only a half of a game, as both teams went unbeaten in the NESCAC this season. The Panthers, winners of four NESCAC Women’s Ice Hockey titles, fell in the 2007 championship game to the Jeffs in a triple-overtime thriller by a 2-1 score. Middlebury’s two losses this year both came at the hands of defending NCAA champion Plattsburgh St., with the most recent setback to the Cardinals on Feb. 12 snapping a 17-game unbeaten streak. The Panthers will play in the first of two semifinal games scheduled for Saturday, March 8.

While second-seeded Amherst (17-3-4, 12-0-4 NESCAC) came up short in its bid to earn the number-one seed in this year’s championship, the Jeffs still managed to complete the regular season with an unbeaten conference record and the best finish in the NESCAC standings in program history. Amherst capped its league schedule over the weekend with a pair of wins during a home-and-home series with Connecticut College, as the Jeffs are now unbeaten in their last 14 games. Amherst will host seventh-seeded Bowdoin (5-11-6, 2-8-6 NESCAC) in the first round on Saturday, March 1. These two squads faced each other during last year’s semifinals, with the Jeffs edging the Polar Bears in overtime by a 3-2 score. It was the first victory in program history for Amherst over Bowdoin, as the Polar Bears had held a 22-0-1 mark over the Jeffs before the loss. Amherst is now 3-0-1 in its last four meetings with Bowdoin, including a pair of wins this season. The Jeffs opened the 2007-08 campaign with a 2-0 win at Bowdoin on Nov. 16 before skating to a 4-0 victory over the Polar Bears on Jan. 26 in Amherst, Mass. Saturday’s first round game will be the third meeting in tournament history between the two, with each team holding one victory.

It’s been a record-setting season for third-seeded Trinity (17-4-3, 10-3-3 NESCAC). The Bantams have won a program-best 17 games this year and are hosting a first round contest for the first time in tournament history. While Trinity lost its regular season finale to Colby on Saturday by a 4-2 score, the Bantams head into Saturday’s first round tilt with a 5-1-1 showing in February. Trinity will face sixth-seeded Hamilton (6-14-4, 4-8-4 NESCAC), a semifinalist during last year’s championship. The Continentals suffered back-to-back losses to close out the season, and enter the first round with a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games. Trinity won both of its conference contests over Hamilton in 2007-08, earning victories of 5-2 and 4-2 on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. This will be the first time that these two squads have faced one another in the playoffs. Trinity has never reached the semifinals, while Hamilton has advanced out of the first round in three of the past four years.

Fourth-seeded Colby (13-8-3, 8-5-3 NESCAC) will battle fifth-seeded Connecticut College (7-13-4, 5-8-3 NESCAC) in the final first round game. The Mules secured the last first round home contest during the final weekend of the season, splitting a pair of games with Trinity. Although Connecticut College lost both games in a home-and-home series with Amherst at the end of the season, the Camels still managed to post the highest finish in the NESCAC standings in program history. These two squads played to draws on two occasions this year, a 2-2 tie in Waterville, Maine on Nov. 16 to open the season and a 3-3 tie in New London, Conn. on Jan. 26. The Mules head into the playoffs with a bit of momentum, having won five of their last six games, while the Camels had only one victory in their last nine outings. Saturday’s first round contest will be the first meeting between the two in tournament history. Colby is the only one of the two to have reached the semifinals, most recently in 2006.

2008 NESCAC WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Saturday, March 1 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Bowdoin at No. 2 Amherst - 1:00 p.m.
No. 5 Connecticut College at No. 4 Colby - 1:00 p.m.
No. 6 Hamilton at No. 3 Trinity - 3:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, March 8 at Middlebury
Lowest remaining seed at No. 1 Middlebury - 1:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 4:00 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, March 9 at Middlebury
Semifinal winners - 1:00 p.m.