MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT – Looking to follow up from last night's 3-1 victory against the Cardinals, the Ephs returned to Spurrier Snyder rink Sunday to complete their series against conference foe Wesleyan. Though the Williams College Women's Hockey team remained determined and fought hard throughout the entire game, they were unable to come back from a 5-0 deficit secured in the 3rd period by 2 Cardinal goals. The Ephs (1-1-0) started off the season by tying their opening series against Wesleyan (1-1-0).
Though the Cardinals secured an early 1-0 lead with a clean goal by
Mackenzie McPike (Barrington, Illinois) 7:27 minutes into the period after a Wesleyan penalty kill, the beginning of the game featured similar back and forth action to last night's game. Near the end of the period at 16:32, the Ephs had a strong penalty kill. With the help of Williams defense, sophomore goalie Margaret Draper (Belmont, MA) made many good saves deflecting the puck deep into the corners.
The Ephs carried over a power play from the end of the first period into the beginning of the second. However the Ephs received a penalty early on resulting in a 4 on 4 grind. 7:01 minutes into the period, Jordan Schildhaus (Woodbury, NY) scored for the Cardinals off a pass by Ellery Sarosi (Ann Arbor, MI). Four minutes later the Cardinals continued to display offensive play with another goal by Mackenzie McPike when there was commotion in front of the net and the puck got past Draper. The second stanza finished with scoring opportunities for both teams, however neither team was able to convert the opportunities into goals.
The Cardinals came out firing in the last frame. Forward Cara Jankowsky (Elkins, NH) found the back of the net with a high shot assisted by Jordan Schildhaus 3:10 minutes into the stanza. The Ephs tried to push back after falling behind 4-0, but could not convert any shots. Then, with 4:36 minutes to go in the game, Lottie Barton (Kenai, AK) assisted this time when Cara Jankowsky scored once more with a top shelf goal. Williams swapped out Draper with 3:33 minutes to go and put in goalie Christina Cleroux'18 (New Glascow, NS) for her collegiate debut to finish off the game.
Despite determined offensive play by the Ephs, Wesleyan goalie Laura Corcoran (Oakville, ONT) stayed strong throughout the remainder of the game and finished with a shut-out, leaving the score finalized a 5-0.
Corcoran made a total of 28 bids, while Draper made a total of 24 save and Cleroux made 1.
"We will continue to work on getting to know each other as a team over the next two weeks of practice. In particular we will continue to help integrate the first years into a team so that we can work as a cohesive unit. We are looking forward to our home opener after Thanksgiving," commented Coach Gillis.
The Ephs will face off against Utica at home on November 29th.
