Box
Score
WATERVILLE, ME - Williams College (3-0-0) appeared to be in
mid-season form again this evening, as the Ephwomen cruised to a
4-0 win over Colby (1-1-1) at Alford Rink, their third straight
shutout victory over a conference opponent to start the
season. The purple and gold now stand atop the league
standings with perennial powerhouse Middlebury who are also 3-0.
The Ephs' first line, the potent combination of senior Tracey
Ferriter, senior Torrey Taussig, and sophomore Hannah Systrom,
accounted for three of the team's four goals, all produced by what
Eph head coach Marissa O'Neil described as "beautiful passing
plays." Senior netminder Sara Plunkett has yet to allow one
to get behind her this season and tonight was no different, as she
turned away 27 Mule shot attempts, including 10 in the final period
of play.
"It was great to pick up another win, but especially on the
road," remarked O'Neil. "Colby is always a tough place to
play, and I think we made a great effort to keep our energy up and
to pressure their skaters for the full sixty minutes.
"Sara earned this one for us, just as she did the last two, and
she really never looked uncomfortable at any point
tonight.... She has come up big time and again for us in the
early season."
The opening period was a relatively uneventful until the last
minute before the horn, when Ferriter avoided a scramble in front
and flung in a loose puck at the left side of the net to give
Williams their first score with 57 seconds left on the clock.
Systrom and Taussig were credited with assists on the goal.
A similar formula would follow in the next frame, as neither
team was able to get anything into the net, despite numerous
chances for both sides. Then at 17:03, the first line struck
again for Williams. This time it was Systrom on the receiving
end, who rifled it past rookie keeper Filomania Falucci off a crisp
feed from Taussig to put the Ephs up 2. Junior defenseman
Allison Page notched an assist as well.
Systrom wasn't finished however, as Taussig would find her again
in open space in the early going of the third period to make it a
3-0 Eph advantage. Ferriter tallied her first assist of the
year on the play. Systrom and Taussig now lead the team in
goals and assists respectively, with 3 goals for the sophomore and
4 assists for the senior.
Williams went into a significantly more defensively-minded
strategy for the remainder of regulation, leaning more towards the
defensive zone to better knock away Colby pass attempts and force
would-be goal scorers away from the front of the net.
Plunkett's sure hands and speedy reflexes were there any time a
shot did get through, however, as a confounded Mule squad were
unable to generate any kind of offense in this contest.
Sophomore forward Sarah Herr "put the nail on the coffin"
(according to O'Neil), scoring a late goal with help from sophomore
winger Kristen Tubbs and senior defenseman Kait O'Brien.
"We did another outstanding job defensively in this game,"
acknowledged O'Neil. "It wasn't our best performance but we
sustained offensive pressure just about the whole way and got the
Colby players to make some errant passes that led to chances on our
end...that was the key difference. I think we're going to
have to skate just as hard if not harder against a very tough
Bowdoin team tomorrow."
Indeed, the ladies will wrap up their Maine road trip in
Brunswick at the Polar Bears' Dayton Arena. The conference
matchup is scheduled for a 3 PM start.
