WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass - The William's College women's hockey team rounded out their opening weekend in impressive fashion Saturday as they got five scores from five different players en route to routing Connecticut College 5-0.
In her first year as head coach, Marissa O'Neil could hardly have asked for a better debut.
"Im very happy to start the season this way. Last night the girls stuck to our game plan and we were able to get the win." noted O'Neil, "Tonight, while we didn't play as well as we did last night, we showed a lot of composure, especially in the third period, and were able to finish."
A big reason for their success was Eph goaltender Sarah Plunkett, who snatched up 36 saves and notched her second straight shutout.
"Sarah is such a great goalie and when you have that it helps keep the defense composed. She is like a sixth defender back there."
The Camels edged Williams in shots (Conn: 36, Williams 32), but the real difference was power plays. The Ephs made good twice on their seven power plays while Conn. College went 0 for 6.
The Ephs poured in three goals in the first period, with the first two coming off of the power play. Hannah Systrom teamed up with Sam Weinstein and Nicolle Perry to exploit the first power play and draw first blood ten minutes into the contest.
Jacqueline Berglass would take advantage of a second power play just over seven minutes later to add to the early lead, and Becca Nichols would end the scoring burst with an unassisted score just 1:45 before the first intermission to make it 3-0 Williams.
The second period saw play settle down considerably with Williams still maintaining the edge in possession and control of pace as they out shot Conn. College 8 to 4 in the period.
Williams would add two more goals in the final stanza, but they occurred despite a great up tick in the Camels play. Conn. College pressured Williams far more in this period then they had all game up to that point as they notched a 17- 8 shot advantage.
However, they couldn't get past Plunkett and the Williams offense was still finishing.
The first goal of the period came off a diving shot from Eliza Foster just 2:43 into the third period. After Foster found herself unabated to the net with the puck just out of reach, she laid out giving her just enough reach to flick the cup into the net before Foster herself slid into it, making the score 4-0.
Stephanie Berger would finalize the scoring off of a rebound with 13:11 remaining to make it 5-0.
Next Saturday November 28, the Ephs face-off against Colby in Maine.
