GENEVA, N.Y.- William Smith College senior captain Krista Federow scored twice in the third period as the Heron ice hockey team grinded out a 2-1 United Collegiate Hockey Conference victory over Manhattanville at the Cooler this afternoon. With the win, William Smith is now 13-4-3 overall and 9-1-2 in the UCHC this season.
 
Senior Maggie Salmon was spectacular in goal for the second straight game, matching her season-high with 40 saves. She improves to 11-3-3 on the season.
 
The Valiants (9-9-1, 6-4-0) controlled the tempo in the early going, outshooting the Herons 10-2 in the first 12 minutes of the game. Manhattanville's 11th shot of the game found the back of the net. Nicole Mensi banked home her team-leading 12th goal of the season, collecting her own rebound and flipping it over Salmon's leg pad. With traffic in front of the goal, Salmon stopped a Janet Xu shot from the point and then Mensi's initial rebound attempt, but Mensi's follow up shot found the back of the net.
 
William Smith had nine of the next 11 shots but could not get the puck past Rose Pijaca in the first 20 minutes. Manhattanville held a 13-11 edge in shots on goal in the first period.
 
Despite not scoring a goal, the Herons flipped momentum in their favor in the second period. William Smith outshot the Valiants 11-8 in the middle period. Federow and sophomore Gina Scibetta had scoring opportunities midway through the period but Pijaca was there to stop both attempts.
 
The Herons tied the game 1-1 on a power-play goal 5:59 into the third period. Federow redirected a Rebecca Begley point shot into the upper left corner of the goal. Maura Mulligan was credited with a secondary assist on the goal. Mulligan collected a loose puck in the right faceoff circle and slid the puck back to Begley at the point. Begley fired a shot through traffic that Federow, who was standing at the right post, deflected past Pijaca.
 
Midway through the third period, Manhattanville had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead when William Smith was called for a body checking penalty that gave the Valiants a two-skater advantage. Manhattanville called a timeout to draw up a play; however, the Valiants were unable to get any shots on goal.  William Smith junior Laura Rollins came up big on the 5-on-3, blocking slap shots from Zoey Pellowitz and Maeve O'Brien. After the second blocked shot, junior Maura Mulligan picked up a loose puck in the left faceoff circle, kept her feet moving, and drew a tripping penalty to end the 5-on-3 advantage. Manhattanville mustered a single shot on the 4-on-3 and none on the ensuing 4-on-4.
 
The Valiants turned up the pressure after killing off a too many players on the ice penalty, but they could not solve Salmon. Kristi Peters threw a puck in front of the goal that deflected off a Heron defender and trickled towards Salmon, who froze the puck before any more danger could come of the play. Melissa Stys had the Valiants best opportunity with a blast from the point that Salmon stabbed with her glove.
 
With just under two minutes remaining in regulation, Salmon sticked aside a Maeve O'Brien shot. First-year Emily Martino collected the puck in the corner and carried it out to the blue line. She hit Federow, who was streaking up the right wing, with a crisp clearing pass. Federow deked around a Manhattanville defender at the offensive blue line and wristed a shot off the left post and into the back of the goal.  It was Federow's 10th goal of the season and 38th of her career. She has a league-leading five game-winning goals this season.
 
Less than a minute later, Federow nearly completed the hat trick but her one-time shot was stopped by Pijaca's blocker.
 
Manhattanville pulled its goalie with just over a minute remaining in favor of the extra attacker. Salmon came up big again, stopping a Zoey Pellowitz shot with her stick. Mulligan blocked the rebound attempt and cleared the puck to secure the victory.
 
With tonight's win, William Smith extended its unbeaten streak at The Cooler to 16 games.  The Herons are 11-0-1 this season on home ice and are 13-0-3 at The Cooler since falling to Elmira on Jan. 21, 2017.
 
Pijaca made 33 saves in 58:52 in the Manhattanville goal.
 
William Smith was 1-for-5 on the power play in today's game while the Valiants were 0-for-4 with the extra attacker.
 
The Herons will be back in action next weekend, Feb. 3-4, when they take on No. 3 Elmira in a home-and-home series. William Smith and Elmira will enter the weekend tied atop the UCHC standings with 20 points.