Box
Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The Williams women's ice hockey desperately
needed a win in their final game before a very long winter break,
and thanks to many strong offensive and defensive performances,
they finally found themselves on the winning side of the score,
taking down the Connecticut College Camels (1-4-1) by a score of
3-2 this afternoon. The Ephs record now improves to 1-5-1, and with
the win they no longer sit at the bottom of the conference.
A very unfortunate feeling of deja-vu pervaded the atmosphere in
the Chapman Ice Rink after sophomore forward Holly Atkins scored
her first goal of the season off a crisp feed from senior
defenseman Farrell Thayer to give the Camels a one-goal lead early
in the first period. Ephs head coach Shannon Bryant quickly called
a time-out, urging her team to regroup and focus on the game
plan.
"We did a very nice job of sticking to our plan today and
executing the way we know can," remarked Bryant after the game. "We
went down early and had to battle back, but we never lost our
composure...we played a solid 60 minutes of hockey today."
The team's stubborn adherence to their strategy paid off in the
second period, in what rapidly became the most exciting twenty
minutes of their season. At just 1:16 into the period, freshman
forward Kate Foley knocked in a bouncing puck in front of the net
for her first goal of the year, evening the score at one. The
Camels responded just 33 seconds later, as freshman forward
Ashleigh Kowtoniuk put home a loose puck of her own, her fourth of
the season, giving her team the lead once more. Then just 58
seconds later that goal, the Ephs tied the score again with
loose-puck goal netted by junior defenseman Kait O'Brien, who now
has four goals on the year.
With 5:30 left in the period, co-captain and senior defenseman
Joey Lye stepped up from the point and blasted a slap-shot over the
left shoulder of Camel netminder Lauren Mellen, a top-shelf
game-winner. Lye played an outstanding game, racking up a large
amount of ice-time, and handling the puck with confidence and
strength in both the offensive and defensive zones. Mellen, who had
just just come off a career-best against Middlebury with 49 saves,
allowed 3 goals on 35 shots in this game.
Williams junior goaltender Sara Plunkett played one of her best
games of the year, making several excellent saves to ward off an
aggressive offensive third-period attack by Conn. College,
including an incredible glove save off a wide open, point-blank
shot from between the circles. She was aided by the many diving
efforts of Eph defenders and forecheckers, who prevented the Camels
from banking home numerous wide-open goals.
"There were a couple of scary moments in the last period," said
Bryant with a smile, "but we played a great defensive game, and our
desperation really is what won it for us.
"We knew how bad we needed a win today coming in, especially with
a long recess in front of us. I think we've had a really difficult
schedule thus far and we're playing in a very competitive league
where the margin of error is very slim...so this was a huge
win."
The Ephs can enjoy their holiday season with the comfort of at
least one victory, a victory that they fought extremely hard to
obtain. Their season will resume on the road at St. Anslem College
on the 3rd of January. They look to carry as much momentum as they
can from this win into the rest of their season and hopefully
garner better results.
For full box score, click
here.
