The Middlebury College women's ice hockey team poses with the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Championship trophy. The Middlebury College women's ice hockey team made history Saturday, defeating Gustavus Adolphus College 3-2 in overtime of the NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Championship at Chip Kenyon Arena in Middlebury, Vermont.

The win capped off the first-ever perfect season in Division III women's ice hockey, and the first unbeaten season since Plattsburgh's 2007 run.

The hosts got on the board in style in the first period with a short-handed goal at 13:44, as the Panthers were on the second of back-to-back penalty kills.

Junior forward Jenna Letterie extended her stick to break up a pass to the far point off a faceoff won by the Golden Gusties and followed the puck into the neutral zone to set herself on the breakaway. Junior goaltender Katie McCoy appeared to make the save, but the puck trickled through the five-hole for the goal.

Gustavus Adolphus was able to draw level on a power play at 12:30 in the second period. Freshman forward Kaitlyn Holland passed the puck to Junior forward Emily Olson below the goal line. Olson patiently waited a second behind the goal before finding Junior forward Clara Billings in the slot for the one-time shot inside the far post.

Middlebury regained the with under three minutes remaining in the third period. Letterie forced a turnover in the neutral zone that set up senior forward Katie Hargrave for a shot from the high slot. McCoy made the save, but senior captain Madie Leidt got to the rebound on the blocker side first and shot it on the backhand for the go-ahead goal.

With Gustavus Adolphus on the power play late in the game, a video review of the time on the clock at 16 seconds resulted in an additional 2 seconds on the clock that would prove to be crucial.

After the Golden Gusties put a flurry of shots on Middlebury goaltender Sophia Merageas at the end of the period, the clock hit zero and the Panthers began their celebrations, but a lengthy video review showed that a backhanded rebound shot by junior forward Molly McHugh crossed the line with 0.1 seconds on the clock, sending the teams to overtime.

In tense overtime in which both teams had several scoring chances, Middlebury senior forward Ellie Barney put the game away at 13:17 of the extra period. Junior defenseman Eva Henrikson found Barney with a stretch pass out of the defensive end, and although McCoy stopped the initial shot, Barney put away her own rebound to season the championship.

Merageas stopped 29 of the 31 shots she faced in the win, while McCoy saved 25 of 28 shots in the loss.

With the win, the Panthers completed a perfect 27-0-0 season with a National Championship, while the runner-up Gustavus Adolphus finished at 25-4-2. Gallery