WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams women’s hockey
program has had just about as good a start to their 2009-10
campaign as they’ve ever had in their history, but tonight
they found themselves in the loss column for the first time this
season, as the Tigers of the Rochester Institute of Techno logy
defeated the Ephs by a final count of 7-3. With the non-conference
defeat, the purple cows are now 3-1-1 overall, good for third in
the NESCAC, while the undefeated Tigers improve to 4-0-1.
The Ephs did not begin this contest with the same level of energy
and assertiveness that they’ve shown in their previous four
games, as they were outshot 14 to 2 by the Tigers who set the tempo
and dominated puck possession in the opening twenty minutes. In
fact, rookie head coach Marissa O’Neil admitted that her team
appeared to be intimidated by the looming status of the R.I.T.
program.
“We didn’t play our game in the first period at
all,” remarked O’Neil. “We let them dictate the
pace and they had us on our heels the whole time. I think we may
have been a little scared of these guys because of their
reputation…and our tentativeness and hesitation cost us
early.”
R.I.T. attacked the net persistently in the first period, sending
pucks and bodies to the net at will and giving Eph netminder Sara
Plunkett a lot to deal with right from the initial faceoff. At
10:02 into the frame, their persistence produced the game’s
first score, as a rebound attempt the right circle by junior Sarah
Dagg careened off a player in front to the towards the left post,
where junior Katie Stack swept ii into the open side for her 6th of
the season. Plunkett made a strong save on Kayla Ross’s
original drive from the point, but could not reposition herself in
time to deny the second effort.
A couple of minutes later, the Tigers worked the dump-and-chase
strategy to perfection. Senior forward Kelley Prom got a jump on
the Eph defense and beat them to a loose puck behind the net. With
a single touch, she shoveled a pass in front to an unguarded Missy
Hall. The fellow senior forward knocked home the one-timer to
finish the play and put the visitors on top 2-0. O’Neil
called a timeout after the score to calm her players and regain a
sense of composure.
The second period was just the opposite story of the first, as it
was the Ephs this time who were the dominant offensive force and
the more consistent aggressor. All three Williams’ tallies
came in the middle frame and all three were converted on the
power-play. R.I.T. committed two ill-advised penalties in the Eph
zone a minute of each other, giving Williams their first two-man
advantage of the young season. At 2:04, senior forward Taurey
Taussig cashed in on this opportunity, as was in ideal position to
gobble up a loose puck in front of the net and lift it over the
pads of sophomore goalie Amy Torgerson for her 3rd of the year.
Freshman defenseman Sam Weinstein and senior forward Tracey
Ferriter notched the first and second assists.
Then just 1 minute and 11 seconds later, the Ephs, still working a
man-advantage, pinned the Tigers deep in their zone, as they were
able to maintain steady puck control and bring bodies to the net.
Several near-misses later, a failed clear attempt created a 2-on-1
chance for Williams down low. Sophomore Kristen Tubbs received
senior defender Kait O’Brien’s toss from the blue line,
feigned a pass to get Torgerson leaning, and then flung a
backhander over her pads to earn her 1st goal this season and even
the contest at two. Ferriter registered her 2nd assist of the night
on the play.
The power-play completed the offensive trifecta later in the
period, as they managed to set-up a comfortable formation and move
the puck around briskly. After coming close on multiple attempts
from the point, Ferriter gathered a crisp pass from junior
defenseman Allison Page and danced right out from the side of the
net to have a bad-angle try. Her shot deflected off a skater in
front and snuck past Torgerson to give Williams a 3-2 advantage.
Now it was R.I.T.’s turn to take a timeout, as their staff
decided to pull the Tiger goaltender and replace her with rookie
Carley King.
“The second period we were able to control the puck in our
zone, especially on the power play,” said O’Neil.
“Once we were able to start moving the puck around the way we
wanted to, we had better chances and eventually better
results.”
Unfortunately, the final frame of regulation did not provide those
same successful results for Williams, as R.I.T. responded with five
unanswered goals. Freshman Kim Schlattman struck first at 2:09,
skating out from behind the net untouched as the Eph defense was
guarding against the pass. She squeezed a wrister under the armpit
of Plunkett on the short side, an awkward-angle goal rarely allowed
by the Eph’s stellar goalie, but a score nonetheless that
knotted the count at 3. Moments later, the Tigers reclaimed the
lead on Kristina Moss’s rocket from the point that deflected
off an Eph skater and skipped through the legs of Plunkett to make
it a 4-3 game.
The Williams power-play, which looked unstoppable in the middle
period, could not generate much on back-to-back opportunities in
the third. Their best chance came at even strength with just under
five minutes to play, when Tubbs chipped the puck up the boards to
open up a potential breakaway. However, the hustling Stack, who was
all over the ice in the final twenty minutes, came all the way down
the length of the ice to knock the puck out of reach. Tubbs
collided violently into the wall as a result and she had to leave
the game with a leg injury.
On the ensuing faceoff in the Ephs’ zone, the Tigers put
matters to rest. Plunkett kicked aside a long blast from the point
by freshman defenseman Ali Hills, only to have the loose puck carom
right to the blade of Hall, who fired in her second of the evening
with 3:58 left on the clock. Prom and sophomore forward Ali Hills
added empty net goals to seal the 7-3 victory, awarded to the
Tigers’ rookie netminder King, who turned aside all five Eph
shots she faced in her 27 minutes of ice time.
“There are a lot of positives to take away from this
loss,” recognized O’Neil, “but the fact remains
that we didn’t play Williams hockey for the full sixty
minutes. All I ask of the team is that we play a composed,
aggressive style from start to finish…and at times it was
there tonight, but for the most part it wasn’t. We have to
work on certain situational plays for tomorrow’s game, but
more importantly we have to make sure our energy and emotion
endures until the final horn sounds.”
Williams will look to get back on the winning track against a 2-6
Buffalo State team tomorrow afternoon. The opening faceoff is
scheduled for 2 PM at the Lansing-Chapman Rink in Williamstown.
