WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Women's hockey mounted a vicious offensive onslaught in the final minutes of regulation, but it was not enough this afternoon as the Bengals of Buffalo State defeated the Ephs 3-2 in front of a sizable Sunday afternoon audience at Lansing-Chapman Rink. With last night's loss to R.I.T., Williams falls to 3-2-1 on the year, while the Bengals improve to 3-6-0.
"Our effort was very sporadic today," said Eph head coach Marissa O'Neil. "The discipline simply wasn't there and our energy wasn't as consistent as it needed to be for the win. We had chances towards the end...but we needed to be as aggressive as we were in the closing minutes for the full sixty."
Ironically, it was Buffalo State who was burned in the penalty department in the early going, as they committed the first two of the game. On the second man-advantage, senior Tracey Ferriter found freshman defenseman Sam Weinstein (who played the strongest game of her young career) at the point, and the rookie rifled it by junior goalie Alyssa Koniar for the first goal of her career.
On the other end, Eph freshman netminder Kristen Tremble was between the pipes for her first period of college hockey and the newbie seemed fairly comfortable in net. She stopped 10 Bengal shots in the opening twenty minutes and brought her team into the locker room with a 1-0 edge.
The Ephs' energy level seemed to dwindle in the middle period, which enabled Buffalo State to dictate the pace of the action and control the puck in the offensive zone more effectively than they had in the opening frame. This lead to multiple power-play opportunities for the Bengals, the first of which Williams staved off successfully. However, the Bengals went right back to work on the subsequent even-strength shift, forcing the issue behind the Eph goal line. The puck was jostled free from traffic in the corner and eventually floated over to freshman Courtney Carnes, who snapped it by Tremble for an unassisted score, leveling the count at 1.
On the very next shift, Buffalo State was on the attack once again, circling the puck along the boards and causing a scrambling Eph defense to commit another penalty. O'Neil decided to replace Tremble with senior starter Sara Plunkett after this whistle, hoping the move would swing the momentum back in her team's favor. But not even the stellar veteran could prevent Bengals' junior defenseman Katie Olejarski from pouncing on a loose puck in front of the net and sliding it just inside the near post to give Buffalo State its first lead of the afternoon at 9:05.
Williams was given a chance to respond much later in the period on a tripping call against the Bengals. However, the flashy padwork of Koniar proved too swift for the Ephs on this man-advantage, as she kicked aside a couple of mighty blasts from the blue line to preserve the lead. It did not last much longer, though, as the even-strength trio of junior Stephanie Berger and Jacqueline Berglass, and freshman Nicole Perry produced the tying goal at 17:30. An Eph faceoff win in the Bengals' right circle began the play, as the line did a nice job of sustaining possession in the zone. Williams positioned two forwards in front of the net, one of whom was Perry, and she managed to chip a loose puck over the shoulder of Koniar for the first goal of her Eph career.
The beginning of the third period looked much like the start of the second, with Williams taking an early penalty and Buffalo State cashing in on the opportunity. This time, a failed clear attempt allowed the Bengals to regroup and reform their attack, and the puck ultimately found its way to Olejarski at the dead center of the blue line. She launched a low wrister into traffic that somehow skipped untouched through the crowd of skates, through the legs of Plunkett, and into the net to put Buffalo State back on top 3-2.
This power-play score would turn out to be the game-winning goal, for while the Ephs made an urgent and valiant effort to find the equalizer, they could not get anything past Koniar. After Plunkett made her biggest save on a backhand-to-forehand breakaway deke by junior Marissa McMullan, Williams turned the action back the other way and drew a checking penalty with 5:27 on the clock. Despite some incredibly skillful quarterbacking at the point by Weinstein and a mass of skaters in front of the net, Koniar denied shot after shot to keep it a one-goal game. Even after the Bengals were caught with six skaters on the ice at 18:38, and even after the Ephs emptied their net on the power-play to go up two skaters, Koniar stood tall and turned away several more scoring chances to earn her second victory of the season. She finished with 40 saves including 25 in the final period.
"We had a great opportunity to bounce back after a tough loss last night," said O'Neil. "If we played with the kind of intensity we had yesterday, especially the second period of that game, we would have won this game today. Unfortunately, we didn't have it...and we'll just have to work harder and prepare better for next weekend."
Williams will take another week off before suiting for the final game before winter break, a home ice battle against a highly-touted Utica program. The action will begin this 2 Pm this Saturday at the Lansing-Chapman Rink in Williamstown.
