A bad week for Hockey East
Outside of No. 2 Boston College, the other six teams in Hockey East that took to the ice suffered at least one defeat, and home ice didn’t offer much sanctuary. The seven teams combined to go 3-10 for the week.
The Eagles outgunned St. Lawrence, 7-4, on Sunday in the first half of their two-game series. Alex Carpenter set the pace with a goal and four assists. Megan Keller netted a pair of goals and added a helper. Four players had single tallies for the Saints, who remained winless on the season.
No. 7 Boston University fell for the first time this season, 5-3, at the hands of Penn State. Laura Bowman, Emily Laurenzi, and Bella Sutton put the Nittany Lions up by three 10:18 into the contest, and although Sarah Lefort and Victoria Bach closed BU to within one by the second intermission, Hannah Hoenshell and Christi Vetter pushed the margin out of reach, as Celine Whitlinger made 38 saves. The Terriers responded on Saturday with a 3-1 triumph. Bowman gave PSU a short-lived lead, but Rebecca Leslie, who had a hand in all of her team’s goals, scored the game-winner at 16:37 of the second period. Samantha Sutherland and Sammy Davis also found the net for BU, and Erin O’Neil stopped 27 of 28 shots to earn her first “W” of the year.
Northeastern and New Hampshire entertained two different CHA opponents. Kendall Coyne got the Huskies off to a quick start versus Syracuse, scoring twice in the first 4:28, and NU maintained a lead throughout in winning, 5-4. Shelby Herrington knocked in a couple of goals as well, and Taytum Clairmont’s power-play tally at 14:15 of the third period proved to be the winning goal. Melissa Piacentini keyed the comeback attempt for the Orange with two goals and an assist. Single goals by Coyne and Herrington weren’t enough for Northeastern in falling to Lindenwood, 4-2. The Huskies were done in by a Shara Jasper hat trick at one end of the ice, combined with 38 saves from Jolene deBruyn for the freshman’s first victory. Jasper now has seven goals and 11 points, both tied for the most in the country.
UNH played the same two opponents and had even less success. Lindenwood bested the Wildcats, 4-2, with Jasper involved in all of her team’s goals and Nicole Hensley making 36 saves. Julia Fedeski and Jonna Curtis each had a goal and an assist for New Hampshire. Jenn Gilligan got the upper hand on her old team on Saturday, making 15 saves in the 3-2 win for Syracuse over UNH. Goals by Emily Costales, Heather Schwarz, and Nicole Ferrara added up to one more than the tallies that the Wildcats got from Amy Schlagel and Amy Boucher.
Vermont was blanked in both ends of a home-and-home series versus No. 5 Clarkson, 5-0 and 3-0. Shea Tiley and McKenzie Johnson each earned a shutout. Kelly Mariani and Rhyen McGill had two-goal games, while Renata Fast, Olivia Howe, Josiane Pozzebon, and Loren Gabel also hit the net.
Maine was swept off of home ice by Quinnipiac, 3-1 and 5-1. Sydney Rossman faced 30 shots total in garnering both wins. Taylar Cianfarano and Melissa Samoskevich combined on the winning goal in the opener, and each had three-point games on Saturday; Cianfarano had three goals on the weekend.
Merrimack was the only team in the league to venture on the road, and the Warriors were swept by Robert Morris, 6-1 and 4-2. Jessica Dodds totaled 39 saves in gaining both victories. The Colonials’ Sarah Quaranta had three points in each game, while Brittany Howard chipped in a five-point weekend. The first collegiate goals for Beatrice Dufour, Madison Morey, and Emily Volpe were the bright spots in the series for Merrimack.
WCHA action begins
League play opened out west, and the four ranked teams that also advanced to the league semifinals in March all recorded sweeps, although two were far more competitive than the others. All three of the new coaches in the conference found themselves on the wrong side of the verdicts.
No. 6 North Dakota was the only victor playing on the road and was taken to the wire both days by Minnesota State, prevailing 2-1 and 4-2. Second-period goals from Vilma Tanskanen, her first as a collegian, and Layla Marvin were enough on Friday, as Elin Johansson was the only Maverick to beat Shelby Amsley-Benzie. Johansson opened the scoring on Saturday, but a short-handed goal from Gracen Hirschy and a pair of strikes by Meghan Dufault had UND up by a goal when Becca Kohler hit an empty net. Leila Kilduff’s first MSU goal was the only other scoreboard contribution for the hosts.
The most competitive action of the weekend occurred at No. 9 Bemidji State, where the Beavers upended Minnesota-Duluth, 2-0 and 2-1 in overtime. Reilly Fawcett and Stephanie Anderson chased Kayla Black with first-period goals. Maddie Rooney came on in relief for UMD and saved all 17 shots she faced, but the damage had already been done, because the Bulldogs couldn’t solve Brittni Mowat, who earned a 31-save shutout. Demi Crossman finally got a puck by Mowat with an unassisted, short-handed goal on Saturday. Kristin Huber tied the game in the second period, and Lauren Miller won it at 3:21 of overtime. Mowat turned in another 31-save performance to out-duel Rooney.
There was far less drama in Minneapolis and Madison. The No. 1 Gophers totally dominated St. Cloud in winning, 7-0 and 11-0. Hannah Brandt had four goals on Saturday, and she, Sarah Potomak, Kate Schipper, Dani Cameranesi, and Kelly Pannek all had at least five points in the series.
No. 3 Wisconsin demolished Ohio State in similar fashion, 7-0 and 8-0. Ann-Renée Desbiens needed 10 saves the first day and 19 the second to add two shutouts to her resume. Emily Clark led the onslaught with four goals and three assists, while Annie Pankowski scored three times and helped three more.
Other action
Clarkson started its week with a 3-1 win at Syracuse on Tuesday night, with Tiley getting another win on the strength of 22 saves. McGill and Shannon MacAulay put the Golden Knights up by a pair. Piacentini cut the deficit in half, but Cayler Mercer wrapped the game up with under two minutes to go.
Rensselaer cruised to a sweep at RIT. In Friday’s 6-2 win, Mari Mankey scored twice, and Katie Rooney, Aly Tremblay, Shayna Tomlinson, and Laura Horwood chipped in singles to make a first-time winner of freshman goalie Lovisa Selander. On Saturday, senior Sara Till stopped 22 of 23 shots to gain her first career win by a 3-1 score. Alexa Gruschow fueled the offense with two goals after Rooney and RIT’s Carly Payerl connected for the second straight game.
