Scoring goals in the last minute of a period can cause a monumental momentum shift in hockey.

A pair of such goals spurred Middlebury to its third consecutive Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship.

The Panthers received goals in the last minute of periods from Annmarie Cellino and Emily Quizon en route to a 3-1 victory over host Plattsburgh State March 18.

Plattsburgh State may have been favored to win after being awarded home ice and entering the championship game with a 29-game home unbeaten streak and 18-game home win streak. Both were school records for the Cardinals.   

But Middlebury’s Shannon Sylvester opened the scoring 5:22 into the game by putting in a rebound during a power play to help the road team take control.

The score remained 1-0 into the final minute of the opening period until Cellino recorded a short-handed goal with 13 seconds remaining. It was Cellino’s seventh short-handed score of the season, which led the nation.

 Plattsburgh State stayed within striking distance for most of the second period until Quizon was awarded a penalty shot with 55 seconds left. She converted the one-on-one duel with Plattsburgh goalie Breanne Doyle to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinals rallied in the final period on a power-play goal by Elise Campbell, but Middlebury goalie Kate Kogut shut the door after that.

The second-ranked Panthers ended with a 27-2 mark, which tied a school record set during the 1999-2000 season. Middlebury is 9-2 all-time in the NCAA tournament.

Before the loss in the national title game, Plattsburgh’s last home-ice defeat was against Elmira in the 2004 Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament.

Kogut, Quizon, Cellino and Shannon Tarrant were named to the all-tournament team for Middlebury, while Chantalle Rye and Jessica Moreau earned the honor for Plattsburgh State.

First round

Plattsburgh St. 4, Elmira 1; Wis.-Stevens Point 2, Wis.-Superior 0; Middlebury 4, Manhattanville 3.

Semifinals

Plattsburgh St. 4, Wis.-Stevens Point 1

Wis.-Stevens Point      0      1      0  — 1

Plattsburgh St.    1      0      3  — 4

First period: PS — Jessica Moreau (Sharis Smith), 9:41.

Penalties: WSP — Jesse Suter (interference) 16:19.

Second period: WSP — Jackie Drews (Madison Darud), 11:43 (pp).

Penalties: WSP — Nicole Greeneway (tripping)) 2:55; Nicole Grossman (interference) 14:59. PS — Lindsay Brown (checking) 4:14; Brown (checking) 10:09; Danielle Blanchard (checking) 13:44.

Third period: PS — Moreau (unassisted), 1:40; P — Jenn Clark (Keltie Jones), 4:43; PS — Ainsley Brien (unassisted), 19:07 (en).

Penalties: PS — Blanchard (obstruction hooking) 7:48; Jones (hooking) 13:28.

Saves: Amy Statz (Wis.-Stevens Point) 8; Breanne Doyle (Plattsburgh) 16.

Middlebury 2, Gust. Adolphus 1

Gust. Adolphus   0      0      1  — 1

Middlebury 0      2      0  — 2

First period: No scoring.

Penalties: M — Tania Kenny (checking) 7:18; Shannon Tarrant (tripping) 13:35.

Second period: M — Emily Quizon (Tarrant, Karen Levin), 6:45; M — Shannon Sylvester (Annmarie Cellino, Tarrant), 17:09 (pp).

Penalties: GA — Stefanie Ubi (roughing) 8:44; Erika Nakamura (checking) 9:40. M — Cellino (interference) 9:17; Brigitte Bartholdi (tripping) 15:26; Kenny (interference) 19:53.

Third period: GA — Kelly Crandall (Margaret Dorer, Andrea Peterson), 12:42 (pp).

Penalties: GA — Abby Randall (tripping) 15:35. M — Kenny (holding) 11:16; Emily McNamara (delay of game) 11:57.

Saves: Kate Kogut (Middlebury) 25; Kitty Hurley (Gust. Adolphus) 21.

Third-place game

Wis.-Stevens Point 2, Gust. Adolphus 0

Wis.-Stevens Point      1      0      1 — 2

Gust. Adolphus   0      0      0 — 0

First period: WSP — Katy Lankey (Jackie Drews), 13:28.

Penalties: WSP — Trish Piskula (tripping) 11:11. GA — Kelly Crandall (checking) 8:34.

Second period: No scoring.

Penalties: WSP — Piskula (checking) 6:45; Tracy Truckey (cross-checking) 14:17; Nicole Greeneway (interference) 16:57. GA — Andrea Peterson (slashing) 8:24.

Third period: WSP — Michelle Sosnowski (Jamie Lewandowski), 19:18.

Penalties: WSP — Drews (checking) 13:41; Statz (tripping) 15:34. GA — Molly Doyle (checking) 13:13.

Saves: Amy Statz (Wis.-Stevens Point) 29; Kitty Hurley (Gust. Adolphus) 11.

Championship game

Middlebury 3, Plattsburgh St. 1

Middlebury 2      1      0  — 3

Plattsburgh St.    0      0      1  — 1

First period: M — Shannon Sylvester (Annmarie Cellino, Shannon Tarrant), 5:22 (pp); M — Cellino (unassisted) 19:47 (sh).

Penalties: M — Sylvester (interference) 10:36; Gloria Velez (interference) 18:55. PS — Lindsay Littman (hooking) 4:09; Sharis Smith (holding) 15:23.

Second period: M — Emily Quizon (unassisted) 19:05 (ps).

Penalties: M — Molly Vitt (hooking) 2:16; Karen Levin (hooking) 11:46. PS — Ainsley Brien (hooking) 10:58; Sharis Smith (delay of game) 19:05.

Third period:  PS — Elise Campbell (unassisted) 9:21 (pp).

Penalties: M — Velez (checking) 1:57; Tarrant (hooking) 7:36; Levin (interference) 10:20; Tania Kenny (checking) 13:06; Quizon (hooking) 14:54. PS — Smith (tripping) 11:44; Erika Nakamura (roughing) 19:03.

Saves: Kate Kogut (Middlebury) 24; Breanne Doyle (Plattsburgh State) 17.