The Lady Ephs fell 3-0 to the Utica Pioneers at Utica Memorial Stadium in Utica, New York Friday night. The Pioneers came out strong after a delay due to a broken piece of glass that had to be replaced before the start of the game and had the Ephs on their heels from the start.
Immediately following the drop of the puck the Pioneers attacked swiftly and did not let up for the entirety of the game. Utica first capitalized three minutes and forty eight seconds into the first when Megan Meyers scored her fourth goal of the season off of a pass from Morgan Reed. The rest of the period was scoreless due to strong play between the pipes from junior Eph goaltender, Rachel Nguyen. The Pioneers were relentless in the first period, forcing Nguyen to make 14 of her 29 saves.
Nguyen turned away 28 of the 31 shots she faced from the relentless Pioneer attack and was a huge reason why the game was close.
A huge part of the Utica's attack was their forecheck. The Pioneers were relentless in their pursuit of the puck the entire game and it turned into a major factor in the game.
The Pioneers also played a sound defensive game, not allowing a lot of chances for the Ephs to capitalize on. Again, freshman Natalie Bernstein made a major impact on the game. In the second period, Bernstein was able to make a great defensive play in the defensive zone which lead a breakaway where she just missed top corner a little over the net.
The special teams aspect of the game was a huge factor. Eighteen total penalties were called by the officials in the game, ten of which called in the second period alone. Williams handled pretty much any variation of special teams during the course of the game. They faced anything from 4 v 3 to 6 v 4. The Ephs, despite having to kill so many penalties under so many different circumstances, did not surrender any goals while shorthanded. This was due to fundamental defense and some great goaltending.
Williams had some chances in the third period, two by senior, Aimee Dennett. Junior goalie of Utica, Jennifer Hamel, was able to turn away any chances that the Ephs could generate, stopping all 19 shots she faced.
After the game, Coach Gillis said of her team, "The team needs to refocus and prepare for our game tomorrow. We faced a tough team in Utica today and need to be ready to play Williams hockey at the drop of the puck tomorrow."
The Ephs are hoping to rebound from their loss against Utica in their game Saturday night against Sacred Heart at home at 7 pm.
