Trinity Women's Ice Hockey Hosts Amherst For Two This Weekend, Both Ranked In Top Ten
Weiss Takes League Award, Assaults Bantam Record Book
Hartford, Conn., Dec. 1, 2010 – The Trinity College Bantam women's ice hockey team will host the Amherst College Lord Jeffs on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 4 at 3 p.m. in a pair of New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) games that will feature two of the nation's top teams. Trinity, ranked No. 8 in the United States College Hockey Onlince.com (USCHO.com) National Poll, is 3-0 overall and 2- in the NESCAC after a 2-1 win over league rival Connecticut College on Sunday, while No. 3-ranked Amherst is 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference following a pair of losses, 2-0, and, 5-1, at top-ranked Rochester Tech over the weekend. Both games will be webcast live at www.trincoll.tv.
The Bantams, coached by the two-time NESCAC Coach of the Year Andrew McPhee (8th Season), have a 10-game winless streak (0-8-2) against two-time defending NCAA Champion Amherst, including a loss and a tie during the regular season last season and an overtime defeat on the road in the NESCAC Finals by a score of 2-1. Trinity last won against the Lord Jeffs, 3-2, at home on January 7, 2006.
Trinity, which was 21-5-2 last winter and earned its first bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, losing, 2-1, at Elmira in the opening round, opened 2010-11 with a 3-2 win at then-No. 8-ranked Manhattanville on November 23, before downing NESCAC rivals Hamilton, 3-1, and Connecticut College over the weekend. At Manhattanville, senior tri-captain forward Kim Weiss (Potomac, Md.) had a goal and an assist, and tied Michelle Chee'09 for the most goals in College history with 41, while senior forward Jill Roloff (West Seneca, N.Y.) and sophomore defender Britney Ryan (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) added power-play goals. Trinity freshman goaltender Alexa Pujol (New Canaan, Conn.) enjoyed a fine collegiate debut with 35 saves, including 25 stops in as many shots during the opening 40 minutes. Weiss scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist against Hamilton, making her the program's all-time leading goal-scorer with 43 in her career. First-year Emily Kleidon (Oakdale, Minn.) added her first career marker and classmate Kristen Maxwell (Nashville, Tenn.) made 20 saves in her collegiate debut between the pipes. Sophomore forward Hillary McNamara (Milton, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 5:10 remaining in the third period against Connecticut College, converting on an assist by junior forward Celia Colman-McGaw (Manchester, Conn.). Kleidon scored the only goal of the first two periods, and Pujol stopped 32 shots in the Bantam net. Weiss was selected as the NESCAC Player of the Week for her fine performance after three games.
Trinity tops the NESCAC on the power play with a .375 percentage, while Weiss leads the league in scoring with six points, and Pujol tops the conference leaders in save percentage at .957 and Maxwell is tied for the league lead in GAA at 1.00. Weiss, who has three goals (2nd in NESCAC) and three assists (3rd in NESCAC), needs one point to tie Chee for the top spot on the College's all-time scoring list (84 points) and three helpers to tie Chee;s all-time assist mark of 43. Pujol and Maxwell have up to the challenge early of replacing 2009-10 NCAA Division III Player of the Year Isabel Iwachiw'10 in the Trinity goal, while Trinity's strong defensive unit benefits from the returning of several proven veterans including senior captain and 2010 All-American Laura Komarek (Plymouth, Minn.), senior captain Alexa Gugleilmi (Rocky Hill, Conn.), junior Dominique Di Dia (Los Angeles, Calif.), and Ryan. Kleidon has been a welcomed addition to the offense with two goals and an assist, joining Roloff, Colman-McGaw, who led Trinity in goals last winter with 19, senior Sarah Kohn (Winchester, Mass.), and junior Payson Sword (Princeton, N.J.) among Trinity's top scoring options at forward.
Amherst, coached by Jim Plumer (8th Season), outscored Wesleyan, 12-0, in two victories prior to its losses to Rochester Tech that snapped a 13-game winning streak. Four different players have four points after four games for the Lord Jeffs, including junior blueliner Stephanie Clagg (Woburn, Mass.) who has a team-high three goals. Senior Caroline Hu (Cerritos, Calif.) has 48 saves for a .923 save percentage and a 1.60 GAA between the pipes for Amherst.
