The Hamilton College women’s hockey team played visiting Trinity to a scoreless tie Saturday afternoon at Russell Sage Rink. The Continentals are now 7-4-2 on the season.
Box score
Sam Walther ’18 stopped 29 shots – including three during the extra period – to record her sixth career shutout. In her 31st career game, she ties the program’s all-time record originally set by Andrea Cecchinato '00 during the program’s first four seasons.
The shutout was the fourth in 13 games for the Continentals – one short of the school single-season record set last winter. They’ve blanked nine of their last 32 opponents.
Sydney Belinskas made 33 saves in the Bantams’ net.
Hamilton (2-2-2 in NESCAC play) is now 16-19-3 all-time against Trinity (6-7-1, 1-6-1 NESCAC).
Walther made two of her biggest saves in the final seconds of the third period. Trinity’s Lindsay Miller blocked a Continental slap shot at her own blue line, then recovered to collect the puck on a breakaway down the left side. Walther dove forward out of the net to smother Miller’s shot and a few seconds later she stopped a backhand shot off the stick of Cheeky Herr.
Trinity’s biggest threat in overtime – which is played four-on-four in women's conference games – was negated by an offsides infraction with just over 30 seconds left to play.
Hamilton’s Hannah Bartlett ’16 had a breakaway in the second period that ended with Belinskas making the save at the side of the net, then making a kick save of a slap shot taken by Olivia Hawes ’19.
Walther answered a few minutes later when a turnover set up Shannon Farrell for an uncontested breakaway down the left side. Bringing the puck in on Walther’s stick side, she fired a shot across the goal but Walther – set up at the right post – reached across the width of the net and made the glove save.
Hamilton continues NESCAC play this weekend traveling to Wesleyan for a two-game series. Their first meeting will be Friday at 7 p.m.
