SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Hamilton College and Division I Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey teams both earned victories on Friday during the opening day of the 11th annual DoubleTree Ice Hockey Classic at Cairns Arena. Sacred Heart topped Plymouth State University, 5-0, in the opening contest, while Hamilton beat tournament host Saint Michael's College, 3-0, in the nightcap. The tournament winner will be determined tomorrow, as Hamilton opposes Plymouth State at 1 p.m. and Saint Michael's tangles with Sacred Heart at 4 p.m.

Saint Michael's slipped to 3-8-1 as junior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) went 17-for-21 on faceoffs, while senior Kaly Spilhaus (Bourne, Mass./Groton School) was 8-of-11. Junior Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./The Rivers School) stopped 33 shots for her fifth 30-save outing of the season.

Hamilton moved to 5-3-1 bolstered by senior Hannah Bartlett's (Marshfield, Mass./Saint Mark's School) two goals and sophomore Jade Alvillar's (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) one goal and one assist. First-year Olivia Hawes (Spring, Texas/The Woodlands) provided two assists, while senior Casey Brown (Lafayette, Colo./Portsmouth Abbey School) and first-year Andrea Rockey (Morgantown, W. Va./Shady Side Academy) both contributed helpers. First-year Jamie Meroz (Wilmington, Ill./Laurel Springs School) recorded 26 saves for the shutout.

Hamilton's goal with 1:40 left in the first period proved to be the game winner. Alvillar skated above the right circle and deposited a shot inside the right post. Bartlett extended the Continentals' lead to 2-0 at 8:20 of the second period when she received a Hawes outlet pass, deked a defender and snapped a high-slot shot into the upper right corner. Six minutes later, Saint Michael's first-year Brenna Galvin (Dorchester, Mass./Boston Latin School) scooted up ice on a breakaway, but her shot was sticked away by Meroz.

As both sides sent five shots on net in the final stanza, Bartlett buried her second goal of the night with a score at 16:10. Hawes fed an end-board pass to Bartlett, who picked up her own mishandled puck before sliding home the puck. Burke was pulled with 31 seconds remaining for the extra attacker, but the Purple Knights were unable to get off a shot before time ran out.

Junior Megan Finlay (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) paced Sacred Heart, which improved to 6-5-2 on the season, with two goals, sophomore Taylor Moreland (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Milwaukee Junior Admirals) scored once and had an assist, while classmate Cassandra Hanlon (Rowley, Mass./The Governor's Academy) and first-year Katie Stueve (Chester Springs, Pa./Downington East) both netted one goal. Senior Casey Stathopoulos (Waltham, Mass./New Hampshire) chipped in two assists and classmate Nicole Magee (Burlington, Mass./New Hampton School) registered a 33-save shutout.

Plymouth State dropped to 6-7 this season as sophomore Shannon Hickey (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) went 5-for-10 on faceoffs, while senior Kelsey Lynch (Collegeville, Pa./National Sports Academy) won five draws. First-year Emelie Lindqvist (Gulleråsen, Sweden/Sandvikens IK) collected 30 saves.

Sacred Heart pumped in four third-period goals to pull away in the opener. The Pioneers held the 1-0 first-period lead despite being narrowly outshot, 12-9. Off a centering pass from Stathopoulos, Hanon blasted a slapshot from the top of the right circle that sneaked just under the crossbar at 6:06. Plymouth State looked to equalize with 1:32 left in the opening stanza, but senior Marisa Zamrock's (Lewiston, Maine/Kents Hill School) backhanded attempt from low in the slot was smothered by Magee.

The second period went scoreless as both sides fired eight shots. At 6:40, Stueve raced down the right side and snapped a low shot into Lindqvist's pads, while Plymouth State junior Frederike Brazeau-Lalonde (Thetford Mines, Quebec/Rice Memorial Prep) sent in a low shot that was kicked out by Magee just before time expired for the middle stanza. In the third period, Sacred Heart scored three times on 18 shots. Finlay potted a goal just 50 seconds into the stanza before Stueve found the back of the net at 3:39. Moreland's goal at 12:04 and Finlay's one-timer tally with three minutes remaining rounded out the scoring for the Pioneers.