NEW LONDON, CT —The Williams College women's hockey team (8-7-0) lost to NESCAC opponent Connecticut College 3-0 tonight. Senior Stephanie Izzi (Salley, SC) scored the game-winning goal at 8:27 in the first period. The Ephs are now tied 6-3-0 in the NESCAC with the Camels.
Connecticut College took the lead against Williams a little under halfway through the first period at 8:27. Izzi got the puck past junior Ephs goalie Christina Cleroux (New Glascow, NS), assisted by freshman Samantha Estes (Millis, MA) and sophomore Jordan Cross (Saugus, MA).
At 12:54, the Camels went on the power play. However, Cleroux stayed tough between the posts, falling on the puck twice for the whistle to keep it a one goal game going into the second period.
Going into the second period, Connecticut went on their second power play of the night at 2:01. However Cleroux made a great diving save early on in the power play, feeding the puck to her defensemen so they could ice the puck.
Williams went on a 5 on 3 power play for a minute and a half, but couldn't get the puck past senior Connecticut goalie Katherine Chester (Mendham, NJ) to tie up the game.
Then at 10:40, the Camels increased their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal. Senior Julie Beattie (Livonia, MI) scored, assisted by junior Katie Kohl (Chelmsford, MA) and Izzi.
The Ephs continued to skate hard for the remainder of the second period, with Williams forwards pressuring Chester with 14 shots on goal
With three minutes left in the second frame, Cleroux shut down a partial breakaway.
The Ephs went into the final frame down 0-2, and were unable to convert two power plays, at 14:50 and 16:31. The Camels played good defense, while Chester did a good job deflecting shots into the corner.
Cleroux had 33 saves, while Chester had 30.
"We started out great in the first five minutes of play," commented Williams head coach Meghan Gillis, "but then let off the gas pedal. We need to continue that pace for the full sixty minutes of play. Our special teams also needs to get better."
The Ephs face off against the Camels again tomorrow at Dayton Arena. The puck drops at 3pm.
