Nearing closer to the semester break, teams are making their final push to end the first half on a high note. We had some great games out east this past weekend, including some highly ranked matchups.
CCC
Two teams that have come out swinging this year, looking to make that next leap are Western New England & University of New England. The Golden Bears & Nor’easters are currently tied atop the CCC with 15.5 points apiece.
This past weekend, the two went unscathed, WNE going 2-0, while UNE went 1-0-1 (lost shootout). Meanwhile, Endicott is sitting close behind at 14.5, then Salve Regina who’s looking to make some noise, sits at 13.5, with the next closest being Suffolk at 7.5.
Western New England had a pair of games with Nichols who finds themselves at the bottom of the CCC, winning both by scores of 4-1 & 1-0.
On Friday in the 4-1 win, WNE’s Maddie Pope (2G), Alyssa Murphy (3A), & Maggie Holt (3A) led the Golden Bears on the stat sheet, while goaltender Kayla Ireland had 16 saves. On Saturday, Julia Roman had the lone goal which came at 16:16 of the 2nd period, giving WNE the slim 1-0 shutout victory. Rieley Jessie-Gerelli made 29 saves in the shutout win.
As for the University of New England, who’s 5-3-3 overall (4-1-3 in CCC) under 1st year Head Coach Cassandra Sherman, Univ Southern Maine ‘17, they tied Suffolk on Friday 1-1 (lost shootout) & won 2-1 on Saturday.
In game one, Delanie Corcoran had 34 saves for UNE & Lily O’Neil had 19 saves for Suffolk, then in the game two victory for UNE, Corcoran had 36 & O’Neil had 26. The point leader on the weekend was UNE’s Hannah Humes with a pair of goals in the Saturday victory.
Other CCC news was Salve Regina sweeping Curry College, winning 2-1 in OT & 4-0. The notable performances were goaltending, in the 2-1 OT win for Salve, Curry’s Soleil Archambeault made 37 saves on 37 shots in 41:01 minutes in the loss, while Salve’s Sydney Baxter made 22 of 23 in the victory. Another thing to note, in the 4-0 Salve victory, two goals were empty net.
NEHC
Nothing too crazy occurred in the NEHC this past weekend, here’s a quick recap of the notable events.
#11 Elmira
#11 Elmira got a pair of wins, a blowout 11-1 win over Johnson & Wales and a 3-1 win vs UMass-Boston. In the game vs J&W, Elmira outshot them 55-15, scoring 3 powerplay goals & 2 shorthanded, and goaltender Chloe Beaubien made 14 saves. In the game vs UMB, Elmira outshot them 34-8, scoring a shorthanded and powerplay goal. Goaltender Leonie Kuehberger made 7 saves in the victory.
Southern Maine
Southern Maine got a pair of wins, defeating Plymouth State 2-0 & Castleton 3-1. Madison Chagnon & Caroline Thompson scored the goals to propel the Huskies past the Panthers. Goaltender Haley McKim made 24 saves in her shutout victory. In their game vs Castleton, Saige Macleod, Olivia Stewart, & Madison Chagnon scored for USM, getting them the 3-1 victory. Goaltender Haley McKim had a stellar performance, making 40 saves, only allowing a single goal on 41 shots.
William Smith
William Smith grabbed a pair of wins, defeating UMass-Boston 2-1 & Johnson & Wales 4-1. William Smith is quietly putting together a great season after two early losses to Oswego State, they have a 3-2 win over (ranking at time of win) #13 Norwich. They sit with a record of 9-3-0 overall, 5-1-0 in the NEHC, tied with Elmira in 2nd place behind first-place Norwich.
The point leaders for the Herons this weekend were Emma Faso (3G), Brianna Felice (2G), Colleen Quirk & Sarah Hearns both had 3A, while Quirk added a goal as well in the win over UMB for a weekend-leading 4 points for the Herons. Goaltender Annie Hauser made 28 saves on 29 shots vs UMB & 24 saves on 25 shots vs J&W.
NESCAC
Four ranked teams played this past weekend, #2 Amherst, #5 Middlebury, #6 Hamilton, & #7 Colby. One upset occurred; this was Bowdoin defeating Colby 3-1 in game two of the weekend series.
#2 Amherst vs #5 Middlebury – Friday & Saturday
Friday:
Amherst shutout Middlebury 4-0 in game one, a surprising result as they held the Panthers to zero goals for the first time this season. Natalie Stott continued to dominate in net, she currently sits at 5-0-1, a .979 save-percentage, .49 GAA, and three shutouts in 6 games. In this game, Stott had 31 saves in the shutout victory. Amherst began with a shorthanded goal late in the 1st period (18:21), Maeve Reynolds. Jayna Park then added a pair of goals, one being on the powerplay. Rylee Glennon capped it off with a goal at 3:21 of the 3rd period, giving the Mammoths a 4-0 win. Shots were 31-26 Middlebury.
Saturday:
This game was a low-scoring defensive affair, a 1-1 tie, Middlebury led in shots 38-27, penalties were moderate, three on Middlebury & two on Amherst. The lone goals for each team were from Middlebury’s Kate Flynn at 3:36 of the 2nd period & Cara Mancini at 18:38 of the 2nd for Amherst.
#6 Hamilton
Hamilton went undefeated in their series vs Trinity, but left with a blemish, defeating Trinity 3-1 & tying 1-1. In game one, all four goals came in the last 4 minutes of the game… Claire McGennis at 16:22 for Hamilton, then an entire 15 seconds later, Abby Smith fired one in to double the Continental lead. Then, a short 2 minutes 22 seconds later (18:59), Trinity scored a powerplay goal (Jelani Adorno). Then to end it, Hamilton’s Lydia Bullock tossed in an empty netter to seal the deal and win 3-1. Trinity led in shots 29-16.
In the 1-1 tie, Hamilton outshot Trinity 34-14, penalties were near non-existent, the lone offense was a Trinity penalty in the 1st period. The lone goals were scored by Hamilton’s Sophia Testa at 6:43 of the 2nd and Trinity’s Marta Mazzocchi late in the 3rd at 13:12.
#7 Colby
Colby split with Bowdoin, winning 4-0 & losing 3-1. In game one, Colby came out firing, scoring four 1st period goals, Meg Rittenhouse scored a quick 12 seconds in (00:12), Megan Martodam at 8:06, Maria Pierce at 11:38, & Breanna Studley at 19:31. These goals held up, goaltender Grace Caligiuri made 14 saves in the shutout victory.
In game two, Bowdoin got outshot a lopsided 35-11, but found a trio of goals in those 11 shots. Starting off the scoring was Beth Sinson for Colby, extremely late in the 1st period at 19:10, but that would be the end of the Mules’ scoring. In the 2nd period at 11:42, Anyi Sun scored on the powerplay, then at 12:01, Luna Lu gave the Polar Bears the 2-1 lead headed into the 3rd. Elena DiMagno would then top it off at 10:22 and send the Polar Bears home winners over #7, winning 3-1. Goaltender Sarah Peterson made 34 saves in the victory, while Grace Caligiuri made 8 in the loss.
SUNYAC
The main matchup of the weekend was #4 Plattsburgh vs #13 Cortland. The Cardinals took this one 2-0, continuing their conference-play dominance. Plattsburgh led 31-20 in shots, penalties were low, Plattsburgh with two & Cortland with one. The goals came from Ciara Wall at 9:41 of the 1st period and very late in the 2nd by Mae Olshansky at 19:40.5. Goaltender Lilla Nease made 20 saves in the shutout victory.
Plattsburgh also defeated Canton, winning 4-2 on Saturday. Julia Masotta scored the first two goals of the game, leading the team. Kendall Wasik had three assists in the game. Goaltender Chloe Lewis made 26 saves on 28 shots. The overall shots were in favor of the Cardinals, 37-28, penalties were near even, four for Canton & three for Plattsburgh.
UCHC
The key weekend series in the UCHC was clear, #14 Nazareth vs undefeated Chatham. Chatham (6-1-2), much improved under 5th year Head Coach Mike O’Grady, who had a program-best season in ‘21-’22, now on pace for a new program-best season in ‘23-’24.
Nazareth (5-1-1), a very young squad, entered facing their first test besides Cortland, who was their lone loss on the season coming into this weekend.
In game one, the Golden Flyers won 3-1, their goals came at 9:00 of the 1st by Ingrid Holstad, then Holstad showed up again, scoring in the 2nd period at 2:42 on the powerplay, then exactly 5 minutes later (7:42), Julia Holmes put Nazareth up 3-0 until Chatham’s lone goal came at 14:13 of the 3rd period on the powerplay from Rainey Jessup. Nazareth outshot Chatham 40-17.
In game two, Chatham would like the last minute of this game back, showing that it truly is a 60-minute game. Abi Fuzaylov put the Cougars up 1-0 late in the 1st at 19:18.3, which held up all the way until the last minute of the game, where at 19:10.2, Ingrid Holstad appeared once again, scoring to tie the game up, where Nazareth would win the shootout for the extra league point. Goaltender Lilly Rogers played exceptionally well, making 51 saves on 52 shots in this one. Nazareth outshot Chatham 52-11.
