Box Score
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—The Williams women's hockey team fell to Bowdoin in their home opener, 3-2, despite a late effort from the Ephs.
Williams put the pressure on the Polar Bears early, outshooting Bowdoin 13-5 in the first period. Ephs coach Joey Lye remarked that the Ephs began the game with an intensity they maintained through all three periods. "The girls came out tonight with a lot of drive and passion, and played hard start to finish." Despite Williams' concentration, the first frame ended scoreless.
Weinstein put the Ephs on the board first, tallying her first goal of the season on a powerplay 11:29 into the 2nd period. Nicolle Perry won the faceoff for Williams, tipping the puck back to junior Eliza Foster. Foster then slipped the puck off the sideboards to defenseman Sarah Herr, who passed to Weinstein on the point. The sophomore managed to rocket a top corner shot past Bowdoin netminder Tara Connolly, beating her gloveside.
Bowdoin retaliated less than 2 minutes later, tying the game at 1-1. Dominique Lozzi notched her first goal of the season off a helper from Kendra Sweet. Lozzi received a pass at the point, then slapped the puck by Williams freshman goalie Rachel Nguyen through traffic from the blue line.
The contest remained tied going into the 3rd period, but Bowdoin managed to pull away for good early in the frame. After a Nguyen save, the puck squeaked loose in the crease, where Stephanie Ludy managed to poke one past Nguyen to put the game at 2-1 Bowdoin.
The Polar Bears cinched the game when Kayte Holtz notched her third goal of the season to cap the Bowdoin scoring at 3-1. The Polar Bears controlled the puck in the corner, where Lozzi passed to Holtz at the slot, who beat Nguyen on a blocker-side shot.
Williams would not go down without a fight. After a penalty on Bowdoin's Alexandra Fahey, the Ephs held a 6-on-4 advantage after Nguyen was pulled. Williams managed to capitalize on this powerplay with 1:46 remaining in the game. Cristina Bravi notched her first score of the game, with help from Weinstein and Herr. Weinstein blasted a high, gloveside slapshot from the point, which Bravi tipped past Connolly to bring the final score to 3-2 in favor of Bowdoin.
Nguyen ended the game with 16 saves, while Connolly denied 29 Eph shots. Despite her team's loss, Lye was happy with Williams' effort, saying, "The girls played really hard tonight overall, and I was really proud."
The loss drops the Ephs' record to 1-2 overall (1-2 NESCAC), while Bowdoin improves to 3-0 (2-0 NESCAC).
Williams faces off tomorrow afternoon against Colby at 3 pm.
