Box
Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The Williams women's hockey team will enter
the NESCAC tournament on an upbeat note next Saturday, as they have
swept their final weekend of regular season play with a 2-1 win
today over little three rival Wesleyan. Williams finishes the
year with an 8-15-1 overall mark and a 6-9-1 record in conference
play, good for the 7th seed in the division.
The game-winning goal was scored on the power-play at 4:12 in
the second period by sophomore Mimi McClatchy, the first score of
her college career.
"This was a great weekend for us...a nice confidence builder
heading into the playoffs next weekend," said head coach Shannon
Bryant. "I couldn't be prouder of our seniors and the way
they've played this whole season and today especially."
Prior to the game, seniors Joey Lye, Sam Tarnasky, and Mallory
Green were individually called to center ice, where they were
greeted by the cheers of teammates and fans, as well as the embrace
of their parents. In their Eph careers, these three players
have made significant contributions to the program. Green,
who guided the team to victory with two goals last night
against Hamilton, has been a quiet leader and a reliable
defenseman for the team all four years, accumulating a total of 26
points (6 goals, 20 assists) in 98 career games. Lye has been
another consistent team leader during her time in the program,
and her exceptional offensive skills earned her 18 goals and 21
assists in 99 career games. Lastly, Tarnasky who was coming
off reconstructive knee surgery last year had an admirable
come-back season in her senior campaign, and has registered an
impressive 15 goals and 20 assists in 73 career games.
The contest opened on a strange note for Williams. At
about midway through the first period, junior forward and team
point-leader Tracey Ferriter was served with a two-minute
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, as well as a 10-minute misconduct
penalty for shooting after the play was whistled dead.
Following this questionable call, the Cardinals went to work on the
power-play and created heavy traffic in front of Eph netminder Sara
Plunkett. In the scrum, Plunkett was injured, and she
collapsed to the ice in pain. Sophomore forward Sena
Ito took advantage of the open-net opportunity and swept in a
rebound for her 8th goal. Trainers tended to Plunkett
and she would stay in the game.
The Ephs responded to the Cardinal goal by applying relentless
offensive pressure for the rest of the period. At 14:58,
freshman forward Eliza Foster cycled the puck deep to sophomore
defenseman Lauren Zurek, who attempted to feed junior forward
Torrey Taussig in the slot. Her pass was tipped, but Taussig
controlled the loose puck, transferred it to the backhand, and
lifted it over the shoulder of senior goalie Rachel Stemerman for
her 3rd goal this year, tying the score at 1. Shortly after,
an Eph forward just missed deflecting a shot from the point into a
wide-open short side. Shots in the opening period were
dominated by Williams, 17 to 9.
"I was really impressed with the way the team responded to
Tracey's misconduct penalty," remarked Bryant. "She's a
leader on this team, and there was the sense that the rest of the
team wanted to pick her up with their play."
Williams began the second period with two power-play
chances. The Cardinals successfully killed off the first one,
but with just seconds left in the second opportunity, Joey Lye
skated the puck cleanly through the neutral zone past three
Wesleyan defenders and made a spectacular move to get past the
final Cardinal skater, giving her an uncontested shot directly in
front of Stemerman. Her try bounced off the far
post, but McClatchy was there to finish the play.
Williams continued to threaten for the remainder of the period and
held the Cardinals to just six shots, but could not lengthen the
lead.
"Mimi is a player who doesn't have a regular shift," said
Bryant, "but we put her on the power-play to replace Sarah Herr,
who is out with a concussion. How fitting is it that she puts
in the game-winner? And it was her first career goal, no
less! The team couldn't have been happier for her."
In the final twenty minutes, Williams committed four penalties,
but an outstanding defensive effort limited Wesleyan to just 7
shots the entire period. At about 8 minutes into the period,
Ferriter almost broke open the game with a breakaway
goal, but her wrister sailed high of the net. With exactly
two minutes left, a Wesleyan forward made a couple of fancy moves
to gain a clear path to the net, but Lye prevented her from tying
the score with an aggressive slash. The co-captain was given
a penalty, but it was a veteran decision that was undoubtedly
necessary under the circumstances.
The Ephs left it all on the ice in their final
kill, dropping down in front of shots and diving to clear
loose pucks. When the final horn sounded, the home crowd
jumped to their feet and slammed their thundersticks together in
appreciation of a gutsy team performance.
Next Saturday, the Ephs will travel to Vermont to take on #2
Middlebury in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. With
back-to-back wins this weekend, the Ephs look to carry their
momentum into that match, which will be a win-or-go-home situation.
"We played well up there this season," commented Bryant, "and
I'm confident that our players will get up in a big way for that
game. We'll build confidence in practice over this coming
week and I have no doubt that we will give them a tough
game."
