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Williams women's ice hockey 3-2 win over Camels08:58AM / Monday, December 08, 2008
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The Williams women's ice hockey desperately needed a win in their final game before a very long winter break, and thanks to many strong offensive and defensive performances, they finally found themselves on the winning side of the score, taking down the Connecticut College Camels (1-4-1) by a score of 3-2 this afternoon. The Ephs record now improves to 1-5-1, and with the win they no longer sit at the bottom of the conference.
A very unfortunate feeling of deja-vu pervaded the atmosphere in the Chapin Ice Rink after sophomore forward Holly Atkins scored her first goal of the season off a crisp feed from senior defenseman Farrell Thayer to give the Camels a one-goal lead early in the first period. Ephs head coach Shannon Bryant quickly called a time-out, urging her team to regroup and focus on the game plan.
"We did a very nice job of sticking to our plan today and executing the way we know can," remarked Bryant after the game. "We went down early and had to battle back, but we never lost our composure...we played a solid 60 minutes of hockey today."
The team's stubborn adherence to their strategy paid off in the second period, in what rapidly became the most exciting twenty minutes of their season. At just 1:16 into the period, freshman forward Kate Foley knocked in a bouncing puck in front of the net for her first goal of the year, evening the score at one. The Camels responded just 33 seconds later, as freshman forward Ashleigh Kowtoniuk put home a loose puck of her own, her fourth of the season, giving her team the lead once more. Then just 58 seconds later that goal, the Ephs tied the score again with loose-puck goal netted by junior defenseman Kait O'Brien, who now has four goals on the year.
With 5:30 left in the period, co-captain and senior defenseman Joey Lye stepped up from the point and blasted a slap-shot over the left shoulder of Camel netminder Lauren Mellen, a top-shelf game-winner. Lye played an outstanding game, racking up a large amount of ice-time, and handling the puck with confidence and strength in both the offensive and defensive zones. Mellen, who had just just come off a career-best against Middlebury with 49 saves, allowed 3 goals on 35 shots in this game.
Williams junior goaltender Sara Plunkett played one of her best games of the year, making several excellent saves to ward off an aggressive offensive third-period attack by Conn. College, including an incredible glove save off a wide open, point-blank shot from between the circles. She was aided by the many diving efforts of Eph defenders and forecheckers, who prevented the Camels from banking home numerous wide-open goals.
"There were a couple of scary moments in the last period," said Bryant with a smile, "but we played a great defensive game, and our desperation really is what won it for us.
"We knew how bad we needed a win today coming in, especially with a long recess in front of us. I think we've had a really difficult schedule thus far and we're playing in a very competitive league where the margin of error is very slim...so this was a huge win."
The Ephs can enjoy their holiday season with the comfort of at least one victory, a victory that they fought extremely hard to obtain. Their season will resume on the road at St. Anslem College on the 3rd of January. They look to carry as much momentum as they can from this win into the rest of their season and hopefully garner better results. |
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