WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Looking to earn a split, the Ephs hosted Hamilton Saturday afternoon for a rematch against the Continentals. Despite a 2-1 lead entering the final frame, a torrid surge of offense from the Continentals in the third earned them the victory for the afternoon. Five goals in the final 20 minutes gave Hamilton their second victory in two days, 6-3, improving their record to 9-3-0, while Williams fell to 6-6-0.
The Ephs came quick out of the starting blocks, capitalizing early to stunt any of Hamilton's momentum generated from last nights victory. Gabrielle Vukasin (Princeton, NJ) slid a pass from behind the net to Samantha Cutts (Kittery Point, ME) who took the shot from the center of the slot and found the back of the net past Rebecca Hazlett. Hadley DesMeules (North Pomfret, VT) also assisted on the tally, which came 6:05 into the opening frame.
Vukasin, leading goal scorer for the Ephs, upped her season total to eight with this tally.
Hamilton wasted no time evening things up, capitalizing on their first powerplay chance of the afternoon. It would be their third powerplay goal in two nights. The Continentals worked the puck around the perimeter nicely before Stephanie Lang sent the puck home past Eph goalie Chloe Billadeau (Chaska, MN). Lang had help from the tandem of sophomore defenders Jilian Tokarczyk and Hannah Jaiven. The equalizer came with 7:13 remaining in the opening frame.
The period ended with neither team able to break tie, leaving the contest even at 1.
Headed into the second frame, a penalty on the home team would create a small opening for Hamilton, who used their 5-on-4 advantage to keep Billadeau under siege. The Eph goalie stayed strong between the pipes however, to help keep the game knotted up at 1.
Directly after the powerplay, the Ephs would steal back the offensive momentum and the lead when Cristina Bravi (Montreal, QC) tacked on a goal at the 11:37 mark. Vukasin managed to get a shot off, which was denied, but Bravi was waiting for the rebound at the right side of the crease and slid the puck past Hazlett. Freshman Talia Simon (Carlisle, MA) also recorded an assist on the play.
Bravi's second goal in two nights would give the home team a slight 2-1 edge, which they would hold onto headed into the locker room.
Head Coach Meghan Gillis was pleased with play after the first 40 minutes, commenting, "I thought we executed the game plan that we had talked about. People were doing what they were supposed to be doing, which created good offensive chances. We also had a couple of close ones that we didn't capitalize on, which ended up being instrumental down the road."
The Continentals would stun the Ephs in the opening minute of the final stanza, wiping away the home team's lead by notching back-to-back goals. The first of the two would come 20 seconds into the period, when Tokarczyk and Lang set up Gigi Fraser, evening the contest at 2.
20 seconds later, Katie Zimmerman of Hamilton sent the puck home, giving the Continentals their first lead of the night, 3-2. Zimmerman was aided by teammate Hannah Bartlett.
The Hamilton offense remained relentless, once again extending their lead two minutes later. Utilizing a man-up opportunity, the pair of Naomi Woolfenden and Nikki Haskins worked to aid Abby Runyon, who slipped the puck past Billadeau to give Hamilton a two-goal edge.
Feeding off this surge of offensive momentum, Hamilton's hefty shot on goal advantage paid off once again, as their merciless offense recorded a fourth goal in seven minutes. It was Megan Fitzgerald who found the back of the net this time, assisted by Tokarczyk and Bartlett.
Coupled with the third period offensive surge was an unwavering Hamilton defense, making it difficult for the Ephs to stage a comeback. However, with 1:43 remaining, the Ephs found some life as junior forward Bravi registered her second goal of the night. Set up by Weinstein and Cutts, Bravi made a nice move and spun around a Hamilton defender to take a shot from the center of the slot which would find its way past Hazlett.
However, the visitors would break the comeback effort 51 seconds later, answering with their sixth and final goal for the night. Zimmerman's tally, helped out by Julia Beaty, would finalize the score at 6-3.
Gillis remarked after the game, "You have to give Hamilton credit for coming out ready to go right away and performing well on the powerplay." Gillis was also very complimentary of the performances by Bravi and Cutts.
The Continentals finished the night with 38 shots on goal to Williams' 30. Hazlett recorded 22 saves on the afternoon for Hamilton, while Eph starter Billadeau turned away 30 bids in her 48 minutes of play. Rachel Nguyen (Chaska, MN) posted three saves in her 12 minutes between the pipes.
Next up for the Ephs is number one ranked Plattsburgh State Wednesday night. The puck drops in Plattsburgh at 7pm.
Looking ahead, Gillis commented, "We're going to have a big challenge in Plattsburgh, being the number one team in the country. We just need to refocus and figure out what were the positives that we can take away and build on."
