The women’s hockey team faced off against Middlebury­—the team it beat in last year’s NESCAC finals—this past weekend. Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself. The Bears left the Panthers’ home turf with a loss on Friday and a tie on Saturday.

On Friday, the Bears dominated offensively for most of the first period. However, the second period was a different story. In less than two minutes, Middlebury was able score three quick backdoor goals.

“I think the first game we were pretty nervous knowing how good Middlebury is,” said captain Chelsea MacNeil ’15. “We came out strong during the first period in the first game, but it was during the second period when we kind of let down and let them take control.”

The first of Middlebury’s three goals came at the 5:01 mark of the second period, after which the team paired backdoor goals with power plays within seconds of each other. The Panthers left the period holding an 11-3 shot advantage and a three goal lead. The fourth goal was scored on a five-on-three power play at the 4:44 mark during the third period.

Despite the 4-0 shutout, the Panthers only held a 19-18 shot advantage over the Bears in Friday’s game.

On Saturday, the Bears came back with a vengeance and took Middlebury into overtime—leaving the game in a tie.

Halfway through the game, Ariana Bourque ’16 scored off a rebound that followed a wraparound opportunity by Schuyler Nardelli ’15 and an isolated pass from Colleen Finnerty ’15—giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.

“I tried to focus on three main things, one for each zone,” said Bourque. “In the defensive zone I wanted to be a good option for the break out. In the neutral zone just winning the one-on-one battles, and in the offensive zone I wanted to forecheck hard and stay calm, collected and confident.”

Middlebury tied the game just 31 seconds into the third period with a power play. In overtime, MacNeil put a quick shot on net that was saved by Annabelle Jones—leaving her with 28 stops at the end of the game.

“I thought we played really well this weekend despite what the scores were,” said Head Coach Marissa O’Neil. “It was two minutes of play during the second period where they scored. If you make a couple mistakes against a good team, it could change the outcome pretty quickly.”

The Polar Bears will return home to host Williams on Friday at 7:00 pm.