ASTON, Pa. - The Neumann University women's ice hockey team couldn't keep up with visiting William Smith College on Friday evening, falling by a score of 8-2 in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.
 
Nicole Turner scored her first career goal for Neumann in the loss, while Kyleigh Prance also scored for the Knights. Helen Cooney did all she could in net, stopping 48 saves on the night.
 
William Smith controlled the territorial advantage in the first frame, outshooting the Knights to the tune of 22-5 in the opening 20 minutes. Cooney kept the hosts in the game early, making several incredible saves to keep the game scoreless for much of the period. The senior standout's best two saves came midway through the frame when she made two otherworldly post to post sprawling saves to keep the visitors off the board. Despite her superb effort though, the Herons finally broke through with a goal with under four minutes to go. Cooney stopped the first two efforts in the sequence, but a rebound was banged home to make it 1-0 in favor of the Herons. William Smith then used a power play late in the period to strike again and take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
 
Neumann showed early in the second stanza that it wasn't intending to quit on the game. The Knights worked their way back into the contest with wicked wrist shit from the slot by Turner, who's first ever goal made it 2-1. The hosts continued their momentum with 13 second period shots, but the Herons were just a bit too strong. Despite a much better period from the hosts, William Smith would tally three unanswered goals in the frame to take a comfortable 5-1 lead into the break.
 
The visitors continued to roll in the third, scoring three more times to further build their lead. Prance earned the Knights a bit of consolation with a goal at the 1:50 mark of the period, but it would not be nearly enough as the Herons skated away with a convincing 8-2 conference victory.
 
Neumann (9-10-0, 6-4 UCHC) will try to salvage a split on the weekend as it plays host to fourth ranked Elmira College tomorrow afternoon. Puck-drop for the conference contest is scheduled for 2:00 PM.