ASTON, Pa. – After a tough non-conference loss last week, the Neumann University women's ice hockey team responded with a well-played 2-2 tie in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) play versus William Smith College on Friday evening.
Sophomore net-minder
Helen Cooney continued her tremendous play in goal in the draw, making 41 saves.
Sammy Patrick and
Bek Lucas scored for Neumann, while
Katelyn Brown,
Jackie Schneider and
Steph Grundy notched assists.
In a very even matchup featuring two of the top teams in the UCHC standings, Friday night's game did not disappoint. In an action-packed first period, each team hit the post in the opening eight minutes of play. Using three first period power plays though, the Knights had the better of the play late in the opening twenty minutes. The game would remain tied until the 16:24 mark, when Patrick ripped home a shot from the point on the power play to put the Knights in front 1-0. The game headed to intermission at the same score, with Neumann holding a 13-10 edge in shots.
William Smith took over control of the game in the second stanza. The Herons knotted the game up at the 8:49 mark of the period, then took the lead a minute and a half later on the power play to go up 2-1. Cooney was the Knights' best player in the period, stopping 17 shots to keep Neumann in the game headed into the third.
Momentum would shift again in the final period of play, as the Knights fought hard to get the game level. Neumann wasted no time equalizing in the period, scoring just 3:19 after intermission to tie the game up at 2-2. The goal came off a fantastic individual effort from Brown, who tracked a puck into the Herons end and made a diving pass to a streaking Lucas in the slot. The senior forward then collected the puck, deked the William Smith goalie and deposited the puck into the back of the net to tie the game.
Each team had chances to take the lead as play winded down. The Herons best opportunity came at the 12:45 mark when two point blank shots were stone-walled by outstanding Cooney saves. Neumann's best chance came with under two minutes to play as a Brown wrist-shot was snared with an excellent glove-save from the William Smith goaltender. The game headed to overtime tied at 2-2, with the Herons holding a 41-34 advantage in shots.
The overtime period was much the same as the end of regulation. Each team generated prime scoring chances, but the goaltenders continued to shine. With under two minutes to play in the extra session, Lucas and Brown entered the Heron's zone on a 2-on-1 but a Lucas shot was saved and play carried on. William Smith then responded with a flurry of its own, but Cooney made an outstanding save at the 1:31 mark to keep the game tied. In the end, neither team could find a third goal and the contest finished knotted at two apiece. This is now the third consecutive tie between these two evenly matched teams.
Neumann (5-3-2, 3-1-1 UCHC) returns to the ice tomorrow for a rematch versus William Smith. Puck-drop is scheduled for 2:00 PM.
