Williamstown, MA -- Despite a rally in the third period, with goals from
Maddie Tix and
Ellia Chiang, the Ephs (1-2/1-1 NESCAC) couldn't overcome Endicott's (6-3/4-2 CCC) early 3-0 lead and fell to the Gulls 3-2 tonight.
The Gulls got an early chance coming in close on Eph goalie
Amanda Lackmann who cleared the shot with a stick save to protect her net. Williams retrieved the puck in their defensive end, but Endicott's Kat Kieth stole the puck at the point and took a shot from the slot that Lackmann turned away.
After being put under pressure in their defensive end, the Ephs controlled the puck up the left hand side, clearing the puck over the blue line and sending the puck behind the net, but the puck got caught up on the boards. The Ephs
Robin Kitazono found a solid opportunity taking the puck to the slot and wristing a shot, but netminder Bailey Thieban sent it to her left hand side. Eph defender Delaney Schelziengier also found herself with the puck and sent several shots from the point throughout the first period.
Endicott found a partial break away late in the period. Pulling away from Ephs defenders, Samantha Fantasia charged into the zone and took a cross crease shot toward Lackmann's left side. The Eph netminder denied the attempt and the Ephs immediately responded by mpving the puck out of their defensive end and putting the pressure on Thieban who turned away shots from
Jill Parsons and
Claire Murphy.
41 seconds into the second period, Kieth won the puck out of a scrum behind the net and circled to the right crease, sending the puck up and over Lackmann's left shoulder for the first goal of the night and giving the Gulls a 1-0 lead.
Williams didn't let the Endicott goal slow their offensive pressure.
Claire Murphy had a good look at the slot, but Thieban proved up to the task.
Lucie Bond found the rebound, but her shot went wide.
A short time later Endicott'sMorgan Sison found a partial break away racing down the right side and taking a slapshot from the top of the right circle and sending the puck to the left corner of the net and past Lackmann's pads to give the Gulls a 2-0 advantage.
Late in the second period, Williams sent off a flurry of shots in hopes of converting. Bella Deluca camped out in front of the net looking to get a tip off shots from the point, but was blocked up by Thieban.
Maddie Tix saw an opportunity off a break away with fifty seconds to go and passed to Szlezyngier who skated to the left side of the net and backhanded a shot, but Thieban turned it away.
"We came out really strong in the first period. It was too bad we couldn't capitalize on at least one of those chances," commented Eph head coach
Meghan Gillis. "When they pushed back in the second, it really put us back on our heels. That set the tone and we took a little too long to recover from that, but I was really proud of the team's effort in the third period."
At 3:45 in the third period,
Ellia Chiang and Tix found a two on one opportunity. Chiang broke away on the left side and sent the puck to Tix who shot the puck right underneath Thieban's pads to close the gap to 2-1.
Endicott came right back to test the Ephs just a minute later at 5:04. Samantha Fantasia found the pick at the blue line and tracked the puck left and shot to the right corner past Lackmann extending the Gulls' lead to 3-1.
Throughout the third period, Gillis noted "We were trying to get back to our systems, focus on simple plays, having good layers in front of the net, and capitalize on rebounds."
Williams worked quickly to come up with some scoring opportunities. After a penalty giving the Ephs a five on four advantage,
Quinn Dawson skated to the right faceoff circle and sent the puck out the front of the net with Williams players camped out looking for the tip. Chiang found the puck on her stick and sent it home, trimming the Gulls lead to 3-2.
Williams pulled Lackmann with a few minutes left to get a sixth skater. Even with a storm of shots, the Ephs couldn't find the opportunity to convert on the shots late in the third period.
"Those two goals were huge momentum swings and huge momentum swings for us that allowed us to continue pushing. We had some really good chances in the six-on-five that we just missed on," mentioned Gillis.
On the night, Williams and Endicott matched up, each tallying 33 shots on goal. Goaltender
Amanda Lackmann turned away 30 shots, while Bailey Thieban stopped 31 shots.
The Ephs will play another out of conference game on Sunday, November 27th against SUNY Cortland at 2 p.m. in Lansing Chapman Rink.
