Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last weekend, the women’s hockey team (11–10–0; 5–9–0 NESCAC) won two consecutive matchups against Connecticut College (7–13–2; 3–12–1 NESCAC) in its final regular season games on home ice.

For the Polar Bears, the weekend victories were a decisive turnaround following a series of eight consecutive losses against NESCAC opponents.

“We’ve gone through a few rough weekends, and so we wanted to go in and show what we could do,” defender Emma Merrill ’26 said. “I think we’re playing up to our potential and trying to play our game, and it feels like we successfully did that.”

The Camels went up 1–0 with less than five minutes remaining in Friday’s first period, and the score stagnated until the third, when Maddie Wojciak ’28 evened the game with an assist off the far right boards from forward Elena DiMagno ’26.

Bella Schifano ’28 put a promising shot on pads six minutes later, allowing Bella Mele ’27 to snag the rebound for a 2–1 lead. Although Conn. tied the score with 58 seconds on the clock, Merrill’s last-minute heroics earned her a screened shot from the right circle with 12 seconds remaining.

“I kind of closed my eyes and shot it,” Merrill said. “I was just shooting at a bunch of people in front of the net; I didn’t even know it went in, and then [DiMagno] started celebrating. I just remember turning to my teammates and being so excited in the moment.”

Courtesy of Brian Beard

The Polar Bears’ momentum held strong in their second game against Conn. on Saturday, the team’s Senior Day, when seniors were surrounded by family and commemorated their devotion to the team.

The team’s positive Senior Day energy carried onto the ice. In the middle of the first period, Wojciak intercepted the Camels’ attempted puck clear up the middle, putting up a shot before Meghan Britt ’28 deflected the puck and scored.

The Camels responded with a power play in the second, tying the score through the third period and taking the game into overtime.

As a team that regularly practices overtime situations, the Polar Bears are no strangers to shooting under pressure.

“We have a lot of confidence scoring, and I think knowing that we beat that team the day before, we had the confidence that we could win the game,” DiMagno said. “But it’s also difficult, because we play a full 60 minutes and everyone’s tired, so it’s about playing smart and getting pucks to the net.”

Two minutes into overtime, Anyi Sun ’26 passed the puck around the net to DiMagno on the left post, whose game-winning one-timer concluded the Senior Day game.

“[Sun] and I have played together a lot and so just having her on the ice, I knew where she was going to go, where she was going to put the puck,” DiMagno said.

The Polar Bears will compete against Williams College (14–3–5; 7–3–4 NESCAC) today and tomorrow to conclude the regular season. Ranked sixth in the NESCAC, the team looks to have a competitive showing in the upcoming conference tournament.

“We secured a playoff spot this past weekend, which is exciting,” Merrill said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll host a playoff, but we know we can make it far.”