Brunswick, ME – After a slow start in the first period, Williams (9-5/5-5 NESCAC) responded to Bowdoin's (9-6/5-5 NESCAC) second period goal with five unanswered goals for their win in the second game of their series.
Bowdoin came out with momentum from last night's game. The Polar Bears controlled the first few minutes of play, but Williams disrupted all of their attempts. The Ephs created some offense when a puck was sent across the crease and
CC Wallin backed into goalie Dani Marquez and tried to get a stick on it before it was knocked away.
Eph head coach
Meghan Gillis noted, "We had created some chances yesterday, but we weren't creating enough layers in front of the net. So, we focused on getting pucks through, getting pucks on net, and being able to skate onto them."
Meghan Halloran and
Ellia Chiang created some dangerous offense with a two-on-one which developed coming into the Bowdoin zone. Halloran took the shot, but was stopped by Marquez. Later, Halloran passed to Chiang, who picked up speed, and looked for the shot, but was tied up by a Bowdoin defender.
Late in the period, Williams created more offensive pressure.
Meghan Halloran took a shot that went wide.
Ellia Chiang recovered the shot and tried to elevate a backhanded shot over Marquez, but couldn't get enough lift on it.
Georgia Keogh then fired off a shot, but Marquez sealed the goal off.
The first power play of the afternoon went to Williams after
Sophia Hoppe drew a Bowdoin penalty on Rachel Potoker for hooking. Halloran took a shot from the right circle with
Avery Dunn on the doorstep to find the rebound, but Marquez shut it down. The power play was neutralized after a scrum in front of the net, when
CC Wallin was sent to the box for roughing. Halloran had a clean look at the net, but couldn't get it by Marquez.
Just 1 minute and 43 seconds into the second period, Allie Britt passed the puck to Angelina Joyce who was right in front of the net. She ripped a shot just under the crossbar giving Bowdoin a 1-0 lead.
Williams, hungry to score, responded 10 minutes later.
Brynn Puppe fed
Robin Kitazono who scored to tie the game up 1-1 at 11:06.
"On that first goal, Brynn made a good play and got that puck on net, and Robin's timing to skate onto the puck for the rebound was really good" said Gillis.
Gia Massaria's interference penalty gave Williams their second power play opportunity of the night. Williams put on the pressure. Off a block in their offensive zone,
Paige Galle collected the puck at the point and ripped a shot. After collecting the rebound
Quinn Dawson fired a shot.
Maddie Tix found the puck and got it to Bri Hill on the right of Marquez who brought it home at 16:42 putting Williams up 2-1. "Bri just won that backdoor battle and was able to get the puck on net" said Gillis.
The third period started off with offensive opportunities by Williams. A penalty on Bowdoin's Kathryn Kester for high checking gave the Ephs another power play. Halloran, Dunn, and
Brynn Puppe organized and fired shots off, but no bosals resulted.
The Ephs didn't go long without another power play chance. A cross checking call sent Rachel Potoker to the box.
Brynn Puppe created space and sent a pass to
Meghan Halloran. Halloran swung around and sent the puck to
Robin Kitazono. Kitazono returned it to Halloran whose and shot bounced off a stick and ricocheted past Marquez at 7:16 extending the Eph lead to 3-1.
Meghan Halloran again worked the puck up the right wing drawing the Bowdoin defender and slipped the puck to
Maddie Tix with a two-on-one who backhanded it behind Marquez putting Williams up 4-1 at 11:05.
The Ephs kept working. Bri Hill took on two defenders and got free taking the puck to the left circle and backhanded it past Marquez making it 5-1 Williams at 16:27.
Williams outshot Bowdoin 37 to 33 in the hardly fought battle. Both goaltenders,
Chloe Heiting for the Ephs and Dani Marquez for the Polar Bears both made 32 saves.
The Ephs will next play Connecticut College on Friday January 28
th at 7pm in Lansing Chapman Rink.
