Middlebury's Audrey Lazar with the opening goal of the game to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead. It would be time to start the NCAA Division III Women's Hockey Tournament again from the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena as the #4 Plattsburgh State Cardinals would host the #6 Middlebury Panthers as the classic rivals would meet again with a ticket to the final four on the line in front of 900 passionate fans. The visiting Panthers would get the opening goal of the first period just over the halfway mark of the first period and take the 1-0 lead on the Audrey Lazar goal. The game would stay there till the 7:32 mark of the second period when the Panthers would double their lead to 2-0 on the Kate Flynn goal. From there defense would be the main course on the menu as it would be the only two goals on the day but it would not be without some great effort by the Cardinals to try and get back in the game. In the winning effort for the Panthers, Sophia Will would make 30 saves for the shutout victory. As for the Cardinals Lilla Nease would do her best stopping 15 of 17 on the day but the Cardinals would fall short of the final four for the first time since the 2011 season as their season comes to an end at 22-5-1. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Lilla Nease (31) squares up for the save on the Panther's breakaway attempt as part of a 15-save effort. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Sara Krauseneck charges down on the goalie and wrist it over the shoulder to give the Cardinals the 2-0 win. It would be the championship game of the Northeast Women's Hockey League and it would feature the #1 Plattsburgh State Cardinals hosting the #2 Cortland State Red Dragons for the right to go to the NCAA Tournament in front of a crowd of over 600 fans. It would be a tight and physical game through the first period and neither team would be able to turn the red lamp on and they would end the opening 20 where they started tied at zero. The Cardinals would finally get the opening goal of the game 2:23 into the second period when Ciara Wall would score on the rebound and give the Cardinals the 1-0 lead and that is where the game would remain for the rest of the period. Then on the powerplay, just 4:02 into the third Sara Krauseneck would score as she rushed the net to give the Cardinals the 2-0 lead. From there the Cardinal's defense would stand tall and hold on for the victory as they would only give up 16 shots in the game. In the winning effort, Ashley Davis would stand tall for another shutout as the Cardinals would capture their fifth straight NEWHL title and will wait and see if they get the overall number one seed in the tournament when the brackets are relieved Sunday evening. As for the Cortland Stand Red Dragons, their season will come to end at a record of 20-7. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Caria Wall (34) with the rebound goal from a knee for the game's opening goal. Gallery

Plattsburgh's State' Lilly Stumm with the scramble goal in front of the net to give them the 4-0 lead. It would be the semi-finals of the Northeast Womens Hockey League and the top-seeded Plattsburgh State Cardinals would be hosting the four-seeded Canton Kangaroos at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena in front of 475 fans. The Cardinals would open up the scoring just 4:47 into the game on the Mae Olshansky goal. Then around the 12:30 mark of the period the Cardinals would get two goals in under a minute from Sara Krauseneck and Holly Schmelzer for the 3-0 lead after the first period. The game would stay there till the 12:05 mark of the second period when Lily Stumm would score to extend the Cardinal's lead to 4-0. Although just over two minutes later the Kangaroos would get on the board to break up the shutout and make it a three-goal game again on the Mathilde Couture goal at 4-1. Then with just over 90 seconds left in the period the Cardinals would regain the four-goal lead at 5-1 on the Su An Cho goal. In the third period, the Cardinals would put the icing on the cake as they would get a pair of goals from Bridget Orr and Sierra Benjamin for the 7-1 victory. In the winning effort, Ashley Davis would make 17 saves as they go to 24-2. With the win, the Cardinals will host the NEWHL Championship next weekend against the winner of Cortland State and Oswego State on March 4th. Gallery

Plattsburgh State's Mae Olshansky (18 with the look od relief and joy as she gets the opening goal of the game. Gallery

Middlebury's Sophia Meregeras (29) with the save on the Elmira shooter as part of a 23 save night. It would be the second game of the 2022 Buster's Cardinal/Panther Classic and it would feature the top ranked Middlebury Panthers and the #4 Elmira Soaring with the winner advancing to the championship tomorrow to take on the upset minded #6 Wisconsin River Falls. The game would start off good for the #1 team in the country as they would get the opening goal of the game at the 12:45 mark of the first period as Britt Nawrocki would light the lamp at the 12:45 mark of the first period and give the Panthers the 1-0 lead. That is where the game would stay till the 4:24 mark of the second period when Panthers would strike on the powerplay and give them the 2-0 lead on Britt Nawrocki's second goal of the game. The Soaring Eagles would keep fighting though and they would eventually get on the board at the 5:08 mark of the third period and make it a one goal game again on the Elizabeth Lepage goal. Although the one goal lead would be short lived as the Panthers would regain the two goal lead at 3-1 at the 8:09 mark by Maddie Bayard. From there the Panthers defense would hold the Eagles in check and give them there first lose of the season. In the winning effort Sophia Meregeas would make 23 saves as they advance to the finals and will take on the #6 Wisconson River Falls Falcons to be crowned the 2022 Busters Cardinal/Panthers Classic champion. Gallery

Elmira's Leonie Kuehberger (1) with the pad save on the scramble in front of the net as part of a 27 night. Gallery

The Middlebury College women's ice hockey team celebrates an overtime game-winner in the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey National Championship. 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.
Intense 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

Middlebury junior Caroline Cutter ties up with Gustavus Adolphus senior Jamie Byrne on a faceoff. Gallery