The women’s ice hockey team (14-4-2, 8-3-1 NESCAC) stumbled in Hartford this past weekend, where it was swept in a 2-game series by the Trinity Bantams (11-5-4, 6-3-3 NESCAC).
The series came down to defense and penalty kills—two categories in which Trinity is ranked No. 1 within the NESCAC.

Captain Kayte Holtz ’13 said the low score was due to a lack of rhythm between Bowdoin players on the ice.

“Both teams had a lot of penalties which made it difficult to get into a rhythm during the game,” Holtz said. “During our power play we had trouble getting shots on net because they [Trinity] were very aggressive in their defensive play.”

“I think that they had a really good goalie that we just couldn’t seem to put the puck past,” Holtz said. “She was very large and took up a lot of space in the goal, which made it more difficult to find open areas to score.”

Trinity’s defense is anchored by a strong goalie, junior Alexa Pujol, who played exceptionally well in both games, stopping 71 shots and allowing just two goals. She has the second-highest save percentages in all of D-III.  Bowdoin’s Kayla Lessard ’13 is ranked fourth.

In the first game, Bowdoin had two power play opportunities in the first 15 minutes but ultimately failed to convert on either.

Two more power plays were unsuccessful before Bowdoin scored the first goal of the game.  Defender Madeline Lane ’14—with some help from Chelsea MacNeil ’15 and Holtz—scored the lone Bowdoin goal of the night.

In the final two minutes of the second period, the Bantams were able to tie the game.
The deadlock was not broken until the 17th minute of the third period, when Trinity scored the game winner on a power play. Even though Bowdoin outshot Trinity 9-5 in the final period, they were unable to find the back of the net. Lessard rejected a total of 27 Trinity shots in 60 minutes. 

In the first period of the second game, Trinity scored courtesy of a power play. Neither team would score again until the third period, even though Bowdoin outshot Trinity in the final two periods.

Holtz tied up the game with a power play goal of her own, but Trinity scored the go-ahead goal shortly thereafter. In the final 30 seconds of the game, Trinity scored its third goal to an empty net.
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Trinity is now ranked No. 4 in the NESCAC, and with the playoffs a few weeks away, the two teams have a high probability of facing one another in an elimination game.
The Polar Bears, on the other hand, dropped from No. 1 in the NESCAC to No. 3. 
Bowdoin will face Hamilton at home today at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.