WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Ephs fell short to NESCAC foe Hamilton Friday night at Lansing Chapman Rink. Despite a surge in the second frame set up by a Cristina Bravi (Montreal, QC) goal, the Ephs let up two unanswered goals, leading to a 3-1 victory for the visitors.
The contest remained tied at 0 until the 9:35 mark. The Ephs found themselves in a hole when two penalties gave Hamilton a 2-man advantage for about 20 seconds. They kept the offensive tirade at bay for that frame of time, but the penalty kill could not hold off the Continentals much longer, as Hamilton capitalized on the 5-on-4 situation.
It was senior forward Abby Rumyon who made the first mark. Teammate Katie Zimmerman was able to fire off a shot, which Eph goaltender Chloe Billadeau (Chaska, MN) deflected. Rumyon was ready for the rebound and found the top right shelf to notch the first goal of the game and give Hamilton a 1-0 edge. Nikki Haskins also helped on the play.
Hamilton continued to dictate play throughout the remainder of the period, testing Billadeau seven more times. The Ephs would enter the locker room with one shot on goal.
A Hamilton penalty coming in the final seconds of the frame would allow the Ephs to generate some offensive momentum upon their return to the ice.
Desperate to find an offensive groove, the Ephs would do just that at the start of the second period when they wasted no time in retaliating with an equalizer. The Ephs controlled the puck off the opening faceoff, sending play into the Continentals' zone. 47 seconds into the frame, Cristina Bravi (Montreal, QC) knotted the game up at 1 when she registered a goal past Hamilton netminder Becca Hazlett. Senior teammate Sam Weinstein (Marblehead, MA) sent a cross pass from the left side to the back post, where Bravi was waiting and found the back of the net. Caitlin Conlon (Sudbury, MA) also aided on the play.
The game would stay deadlocked at 1 for nearly 18 minutes of play. It was the Continentals who would strike again with just over a minute remaining in the middle frame. Jillian Tokarczyk made a nifty move past an Eph defender to open up a scoring chance. As she was falling down, she managed to take a wrist shot that slid underneath the right pads of Billadeau to regain the lead. Her unassisted tally would be the only even strength goal for the evening.
Hamilton would hit the locker room once again with more shots on goal than the Ephs, firing nine shots at Billadeau to Williams' four.
A pair of penalties coming in the first half of the final frame would allow both ends scoring opportunities, but to no avail.
Williams battled to even up the game once more, but the Continentals would notch an insurance goal with 5:38 remaining in the game. It was Zimmerman who registered Hamilton's third team goal, finalizing the score at 3-1. She was unaided on the play.
Billadeau finished with 19 saves in the net for the Ephs, while counterpart Hazlett recorded 9 stops for Hamilton.
The Ephs will have a chance to retaliate tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. Looking forward to tomorrow's game, Head Coach Meghan Gillis says, "We hope to get more offensive chances and get more pucks to the net."
