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CLINTON, NY -- The women's Williams hockey team (10-7-2) has
clicked as of late, cranking out a spree of victories that now
includes tonight's 2-1 win against the Continentals in
Clinton. The conference decision launches the Ephs into 3rd
place, with a NESCAC mark of 7-3-1, over the once 1st-place Bantams
of Trinity.
Eph head coach Marissa O'Neil said it was "by no means a pretty
win," but that she was proud of the way her team "dug it out in a
gritty battle" of a hockey game.
"We knew this game was going to come down to the wire," added
O'Neil. "The first period was very evenly matched and I think
it set the tone for the rest of the night."
The opening twenty minutes was quite the back-and-forth affair,
as each side blasted 10 shots on goal, slipping one of those shots
into the net. Hamilton's winner came first at 9:49 into the
period, when sophomore Riley Smith beat senior Eph netminder Sara
Plunkett for an unassisted strike, her 4th of the year.
Exactly ten minutes later, Williams came up with the tying goal, as
freshman defenseman Sam Weinstein sniped her 4th of the season,
also unassisted.
The second frame was much more lopsided, as Williams fired 15
pucks at Hamilton rookie goaltender Becca Hazlett, compared to 2
attempts by the Continentals. Despite this flurry of shots,
Hazlett stood tall and the middle period went by without so much as
a flicker from the red light.
"They had a really strong freshman goaltender," acknowledged
O'Neil. "We did a good job of outpossessing them and we had
our chances but we just couldn't finish on a lot of those
opportunities."
But this trend did not last the duration of regulation, as
Tracey Ferriter capitalized on the sixth and final man-advantage at
11:02 of the third period. The senior forward's 7th score was
asssited by sophomore wingers Hannah Systrom and Eliza
Foster. Plunkett took care of the rest, turning aside all 8
Hamilton shots she saw in the last twenty minutes to ensure the 2-1
victory.
"Things are really starting to click for us at the right time,"
beamed O'Neil. "Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going
into the home stretch of this season. We're not too far away
in the conference and if we make a solid run in these upcoming
conference games, you never know where we could end up."
The conference action continues tomorrow afternoon when the
purple and gold take on the Camels of Connecticut College at 3:00PM
tomorrow.
