Williams Women's Hockey Defeats Sacred Heart, 5-1

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Williams women's hockey squad continued an impressive string of victories Tuesday night, taking down the Pioneers of Sacred Heart by a 5-1 margin. The non-conference road win gives the Ephs three consecutive wins and spots Williams at 9-7-2 on the year, while Sacred Heart falls to 5-16-1 in their sixth straight loss.

Senior forward and tri-captain Tracey Ferriter rattled the pipes twice in the middle period to put Williams on top by two, then aided sophomore Eliza Foster's buzzer-beating score later in the final tick of the frame that shot them ahead 4-0. Senior goalie Sara Plunkett contributed a near-flawless performance to the winning effort, stopping 31 of the 32 Pioneer shots she faced.

"Overall it was another solid win for us," remarked Eph head coach Marissa O'Neil. "We've been able to find the back of the net lately, which is nice and we had some really good chances off our transition."

In terms of tempo and momentum, the opening 20 minutes were relatively even on both sides, with each squad registering six attempts on net, trading minor penalties through the duration. The scoreless tie didn't last very long into the second however, as Ferriter received the feed from sophomore Hannah Systrom on a man-advantage that carried over from the first to jump start the Eph scoring.

But the veteran sniper wasn't finished, as she beat sophomore netminder Raelene Sydor a second time at 7:21 to launch her team ahead with her sixth red light of the season. After offensively-savvy defender junior Allison Page knocked in her third goal in unassisted style, Foster fired one in from the blue line in the very last second of the period to stretch the lead to 4-0.

"I thought we came out a little bit flat in the first period," said O'Neil, "but our next forty minutes were very good, especially in terms of our puck-movement and play off the puck.... Defensively we gave them some chances, but Sara Plunkett played a great game in net to keep the pressure off us and that was huge."

Sophomore Nicole Palazzo did her best to spark a Pioneer comeback in the final period, spoiling a potential shutout for Plunkett with her third notch on the season. But the rebuttal would fall short when a decisive score by sophomore forward Sarah Herr capped off a victory in favor of Williams for the third time in four days.

"This was a nice boost for our team," added O'Neil, "and the fact that we've been scoring a lot lately does great things for our confidence. We're hoping to carry that energy into this weekend's games."

For the Ephs, another important conference weekend lies ahead, as they will travel to Hamilton Friday night and Connecticut College Saturday afternoon. Action begins against the Continentals at 7 in Clinton, N.Y. Sacred Heart will also travel to the NESCAC this Saturday to square off against Wesleyan at 3.

Williamstown Board Opts to Negotiate with College on Water St. Lot

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:04AM / Tuesday, June 09, 2026

Newly elected board member Nate Budington, far left, participates in his first in-person meeting along with, from left, Matt Neely, Stephanie Boyd, Peter Beck, Shana Dixon and Town Manager Robert Menicocci.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday decided to enter into negotiations with Williams College on the sale of the vacant town-owned lot at 59 Water St.

 

But the board members made it clear that the college's proposal to acquire the lot is a starting point, not a final deal that the elected officials would accept.

 

"For the sake of continued conversation, I'm in favor of [awarding Williams the site], but if this process wasn't continued with the opportunity for further negotiation, I wouldn't vote to continue this," Peter Beck said. "I think that next step is necessary for us to get to a yes on this."

 

"I think there's wide agreement on that," Matthew Neely said just before the 5-0 vote to enter talks with the college.

 

Williams was the sole respondent to a town-issued request for proposals to develop the former town garage site, currently a dirt lot.

 

The college's stated intent is to build a new Facilities office and create up to 170 parking spaces at 59 Water Street. That use will allow the college to redevelop the current Facilities building site and parking lot as part of a reconception of the school's indoor athletic and recreation facilities.

 

Under the terms of the RFP, the college's proposal was subjected to review by an ad hoc advisory committee to the town manager, who brought the question to the Select Board. That board will have the final say on any purchase and sales agreement.