BUFFALO, N.Y.— Senior Nikki Kirchberger (Buffalo/W. Seneca West) recorded her first career hat trick Saturday to lead Buffalo State past the Chatham Cougars 4-1 for a second straight night, improving the Bengals to 8-0 on the season.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State 4, Chatham 1
LOCATION: Ice Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (8-0, 6-0 ECAC), Chatham (0-4, 0-4 ECAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Kirchberger wasted little time getting the Bengals on the board, scoring her first goal of the game just over seven minutes into play.
The Cougars quickly countered and tied things up, 1-1, with a goal at 9:47.
Just three minutes later, Kirchberger gave Buffalo State back the lead. Erin Gehen (West Seneca, NY/W. Seneca West) and Missy Mallon (Amherst, NY/Amherst) were credited with the assists.
In the second period, the Bengals pushed their lead out to two goals at 13:10 off a goal from Maddie Toczek (N. Tonawanda/Starpoint) with an assist from Caitie Horvatits (Elma, NY/Iroquois).
One minute later, Kirchberger struck for her third and final goal of the game to seal the win. Gehen and Mallon were again credited with assists.
Buffalo State finished with a 38-28 advantage in shots and was 0 for 5 on the power play.
Justine Silva (Baldwin Park, CA/Arroyo) earned the win in net, making 27 saves.
FOR THE FOES
Jennifer Jones scored the lone goal for Chatham. Kaitlyn Perrins was credited with the assists.
Kasandra Petersen recorded 34 saves.
The Cougars finished 0 for 3 on the power play.
NOTEWORTHY
Today’s game was the inaugural Gold Ribbon Game for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Buffalo State women’s hockey collected donations and had basket raffles to benefit Carly’s Club at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will return to action after Thanksgiving with a 1 p.m. non-conference matchup at Williams on Saturday, November 28th.
