Williamstown, MA – A first period goal and a second midway through the third followed by an empty netter gave Williams (10-7/6-6 NESCAC) the 3-0 edge over Connecticut College (5-9-1/4-7 NESCAC).
Coming off last night's battle, the Conn College Camels came in rearing to go. The Camels controlled the puck within their offensive zone and peppered Eph netminder
Chloe Heiting with shots. When a scrum in front of the net left the puck in front of Heiting, Camille Phelan had a point-blank shot which Heiting deflected with the help of
Robin Kitazono clearing it out of the zone.
The Ephs were quick to respond to the Camels' offensive pressure. After a Williams faceoff win,
Georgia Keogh showcased her stick skills making a move around Conn's defense and finding an opening between goalie Abby Wieczorek and the back of the net, but the puck bounced off the right post.
Late in the first period,
Maddie Tix battled two Camels against the boards to win the puck in the Ephs offensive zone. The loose puck rattled into a crowd where Bella Deluca backhanded it across the circle. Bri Hill received the pass and skated to the corner of the right circle sending the puck home giving Williams the 1-0 advantage at 18:35.
After finding their groove late in the first, the Ephs came into the second period with momentum. Williams put Camel goalie Abby Wieczorek under siege, working the puck around the point and firing off shots from out wide.
Maddie Tix,
Maddie Zack, and
Paige Galle all took shots hoping their teammates could tip it past Wieczorek, but the bounces didn't fall their way.
The night's first power play came when
Quinn Dawson caught an interference penalty at 5:20
. The Ephs contained the Camels and made it difficult for the man-advantage to amount to anything threatening.
With 4:12 to go, the Camels worked the puck to the left of Heiting where Melanie Conca had an open shot, but Heiting remained calm denying her attempt with a glove save. Seconds after the faceoff, the Camels got another chance at a power play off a hooking call
. The Ephs stole away the puck and created pressure, but Conn won the puck back to their end where they organized at the point. Natalie Wichowski had a dangerous chance intending the puck for underneath the cross bar, but Heiting held tough denying her shot and a flurry of rebounds.
A roughing call on
Brynn Puppe put the Ephs a man-down for the rest of the period. "With three of the primary penalty killers out right now, the rest of the PK really stepped up," said Eph head coach
Meghan Gillis.
Maddie Tix, Bella Deluca,
Christina Halloran, and
Avery Dunn were dependable penalty killers. "Everyone did a really great job of getting pucks out, they forechecked really hard to keep it down in their end and minimized the time Conn to had to set up in the zone," continued Gillis. After seven consecutive shots turned away by Heiting,
Avery Dunn managed to clear the puck out as the clock expired.
The third period started out with a lot of back-and-forth play. In the Williams offensive end,
Robin Kitazono took the puck to the right of the net and fed it to
Christina Halloran who slid it on net. The puck found its way behind Wieczorek, but the whistle was blown before the puck went to the back of the net.
After a battle at neutral ice, Bri Hill pick up a free puck on the right wing and backhanded it to
Christina Halloran who scored her first collegiate goal. Halloran came down the middle and sent it to the left corner extending the Eph lead to 2-0 at 10:27.
With a little bit of breathing room, the Ephs remained aggressive on offense and defense and hustled to every puck. Heiting made an impressive save when Melissa Alexander's rebound gave Kelly Matthews an open look at the net. Heiting swiftly slid across the crease and smothered the shot keeping the Camels scoreless.
"Conn really took it to us in the third period yesterday, so to see the team respond and play a third period like that is really rewarding" Gillis mentioned.
Conn College pulled Wieczorek but couldn't manage to convert with a one-skater advantage. At 17:51,
Avery Dunn received a cross ice pass from Halloran and put in an empty netter putting the Ephs up 3-0.
On offense, the Ephs put 25 shots on net, and the Camels fired off 41 shots. In net, goaltender
Chloe Heiting turned away all 41 bids. The Camels' netminder Abby Wieczorek stopped 22 shots.
The Ephs will matchup against the Wesleyan Cardinals away on Friday February 4
th at 7pm in Snyder Rink in Middleto
